Blurred Stars
by Rosey1118
Summary: After a disastrous night with a cheating husband and getting splinched, Hermione finds herself in St. Mungos faced with memories she'd rather forget. As she accepts the reality of her situation, she becomes closer to none other than Draco Malfoy, the healer who'd helped her on night one. But soon enough, Hermione begins to feel off, in more ways than one. Strong Language.
1. Chapter One

It took a moment for Hermione to realize what she was seeing. This, she knew, was because shock had taken over her mind. Shock and disbelief and, above all else, a deep, overwhelming pain. It stabbed her through the heart, made her grip her chest to try and catch her breath. This was something she had never expected; something she never thought would happen to her in a million years. But there it was; there was her husband on the bed, a skinny blonde woman on top of him. She could see him thrusting. She could see the sweat glistening on their backs, the way he rubbed his hands all over the blonde woman's body. She could hear him too. The repetitive words he always said as he came close to a climax.

She cleared her throat, and the room went still. Ron swore. " _Fuck_." As if the one word could fully sum up everything the situation meant.

"Ron, Honey," the blonde woman said. Hermione recognized her as one of the young women who worked in the joke store with Ron and George. "What's wrong, Baby? You're hearing noises."

It took a moment for Ron to push to young woman off him. He swore again, and then quickly stated, "It's not what it looks like. I swear, Hermione-"

"Oh, I think it's _exactly_ what it looks like," Hermione said, her voice as cold as the knife to her heart. "You're, ah...How should I put it... _Sleeping_ with Vanessa, from the store."

"It was a one time thing-" Ron argued, attempting to pull a sheet around his lower half as he stumbled out of bed. Vanessa just sat on the bed, her doe eyes wide and full of tears.

"Ronny, we've been together for months," Vanessa said. Hermione watched as the tears started to fall down her cheeks. "You promised me that you would leave her this week."

 _"Shut up_ -Hermione, I would never. You know I would never-"

"Do I?" Hermione asked, the iciness remaining. "Because it looks to me as if you've been screwing a twenty year-old for months, _Ronny_."

"I-"

" _No_. You don't get to speak right now. You made a vow, Ronald Weasley. You made a vow that-"

"A vow is a promise and you broke yours!" Ron said, getting angry as well. The chill remained as he stormed over to her. Hermione instinctively reached for her wand in her robes, suddenly afraid. She still didn't like people coming up to her when she didn't trust them, and she definitely didn't trust Ron at the moment. "You _swore_ we could have a family. You said you wanted one as well. And then...And then you just... _You let our daughter die_."

Hermione couldn't breathe again. A very different pain seized control of her body then, and she wondered how someone who was supposed to love her could ever say something so hurtful. "That wasn't my fault," Hermione said, her voice suddenly weak and shaking. "I...I couldn't have done anything differently. I thought that it was _fine_."

"You're supposed to be smart," Ron challenged, sensing he had gained the upper hand. "You should have known. A _mother_ would know."

" _How dare you?_ " Hermione said. Her voice was still shaking and she hated it. She hated any appearance of weakness in front of Ron right now. He'd gone and cheated on her, and now he was throwing Rose back in her face. Hermione hadn't had control over the situation, as much as it pained her to admit. She hadn't been able to do anything differently. "She wasn't my fault; you swore up and down that you would never blame me for what happened. How...Why...That's it. I'm not doing this."

"Hermione wait," Ron said, his voice softening slightly from the anger it had contained before. "Hermione, we can work this out; we can make this better-"

"Go to hell, Ron," Hermione said, going to her drawer and pulling out clothes. "Be with Vanessa for all I care; I'm not going to do this with you. I'm not going to have you cheating on me and making me look like an idiot. I'm not going to do it."

She stuffed the clothes in a bag she'd summoned from the closet. Her hands were shaking but there wasn't anything she could do to stop that at the moment. She needed to get out of the house and get away from Ron Weasley. Her husband of just a few years. She had been so stupid to think that everything would work. To assume that after Rose he would continue to love her like before. Of course that wasn't the case; after what happened...No, she couldn't think about that. She needed to focus on getting out of the house.

"Where are you going to go, Hermione?" Ron asked, his voice becoming angry again. "You don't have anywhere to stay. You don't have any other family."

It was another knife to the heart. Hermione whipped around, her hand on her wand as she turned to stare at her husband. "You don't think your mother would take me in?" she asked heatedly. "If I told her what you did, how I found you...you don't think there's any chance she would take me in? Or Harry?"

"Stay away from my mother!" Ron shouted, anger taking him over. "And stay away from Harry too; he was _my_ friend first!"

"That doesn't matter, Ronald!" Hermione yelled, shoving him away from her. "He's my friend too and if I need a place to stay then I'll bloody well go and stay with him!"

She turned on her heel and disapparated, her heavy bag hanging off her shoulder. When she landed she yelled out, clutching her arm as blood seeped through her fingers. She didn't recognize where she was, but she'd been aiming for Harry and Ginny's home and she could only hope she'd landed near them. Harry would have charms around to sense people coming because he could be paranoid, and then maybe he would find her and help her inside.

Hermione's legs wobbled as she tried to take a step forward. She fell to the ground, shocked at the pain in her arm. She'd never been splinched before; she'd never left in a hurry like that and she'd never been so full of emotions when trying to apparate. It had gone horribly wrong and now she could tell that a part of her arm was missing. It was bleeding and it hurt terribly, and it made her want to close her eyes and just give up. She'd felt this way before, after Rose, but that had been a thousand times worse.

"Hello?" she heard. Feet crunched the fresh snow on the ground, and Hermione recognized Harry's voice almost immediately. She'd gotten it right; she must have landed in their front yard. "Is anyone there? Hello?" Light hit her a moment later, and she heard a panicked, "Hermione?" before he rushed over to her. "What's-Splinched? I can fix that. You'll be fine. Should I call Ron? Of course I should call Ron; he'll be panicked when he-"

"No," Hermione managed to say in spite of the pain she felt. "Don't. I don't want to see him; I don't want him to know."

Harry looked confused, but immediately started fixing her arm anyway. Relief spread through her body as the wound slowly began to heal. It wouldn't be back to normal for a while and she would have to go into St. Mungos to get it fixed eventually, but she could live with that. She wasn't in danger of dying anymore, and that was all that really mattered. "Hermione, what's going on?" Harry asked once he'd done as much work as he could. He helped her off the ground and supported her weight as he led her into the house.

"Can I stay with you? Just for tonight? I'll find somewhere else to go tomorrow, I just...It's getting late and the hotels aren't going to have space now and I…"

"Of course you can," Harry said immediately. "What's going on?"

"I...I can't say," Hermione said softly. "Just trust that everything will be okay?"

"Hermione you show up splinched in my front yard and refusing to let me call Ron. Something's not right; what is it?" Harry said, his voice serious and making her panic slightly. She didn't want to tell him because as furious as she was with Ron, she knew Harry would be angrier and she didn't want to hurt their friendship. She also knew that Harry would tell Ginny, and Hermione didn't really want Ron dead.

"I…" All of those thoughts washed away when she closed her eyes. She saw Ron with Vanessa and anger bubbled up inside her, and the words came spilling out. "I went home and caught Ron in the middle of having sex with Vanessa."

"Vanessa?" Harry asked, shocked. "Hermione that's not...Maybe you were seeing things?"

"No," she said, her voice full of cold fury. "No, I wasn't seeing things. He's been sleeping with her for months; he told her that he'd leave me this week. I...I told him I wouldn't tell you."

She watched Harry's face, somewhat scared that he wouldn't believe her and would kick her out. But Harry wasn't just Ron's best friend, he was hers too. "That bastard," Harry said eventually. "Merlin, Hermione, I'm so sorry. Do you want me to go talk to him?"

"Why do I feel like that conversation would involve a fist?"

"Because it probably would," Harry said, giving her a tight hug. "Look, you're going to stay with us as long as you need to. We've got the guest room and the boys will be thrilled to see you. Ginny-When she finds out what Ron did...Might be best to tell her in the morning…"

As he said that though, Ginny's familiar face came down the steps and entered the room. "Hermione? What are you doing here so late? Is Ron with you? If that idiot got drunk and dragged us out of bed…"

"Not exactly what happened." Hermione muttered. She stepped away from Harry, who suddenly looked apprehensive, though she could understand why.

"Ginny, Love, you're not going to like this…"

Hermione stood with her arms folded across her chest, staring at Ginny as Harry told her the truth. She was trying to maintain her composure, as James and Albus were asleep upstairs and no one wanted to wake them up. Hermione could almost see the smoke coming out of her ears. "When I get my hands on that little-" she stopped, took a deep breath, and then said, "Mum's going to be furious. She loves you. You're still in our family though, do you hear me? You've got to keep coming to Christmas and birthdays; you're our family, Hermione, no matter what Ron did and no matter what you decide to do. If you want to leave him, you've got our full support. Did Harry already tell you that you're staying here? I'm not giving you a choice, Hermione, I'll lock you in the guest room if you try to leave."

Hermione laughed, grateful now more than ever for Ginny and Harry. They couldn't solve her situation with Ron, but they would be damned if they didn't try to cheer her up. "He mentioned, Ginny. And thank you both; I know this is an inconvenience."

"Nonsense," Harry said. "You're not tired yet, are you? I could find us something to eat and we could chat or something. I have the whole day off; no one is supposed to call me in until midnight at the earliest."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to go lay down for a while. I'll be up at seven once the boys find out I'm here and I'll have to go back home tomorrow to get a few things I left behind. I really appreciate you letting me stay though."

"Family," Ginny reminded her, giving her a hug. "I'll come with you tomorrow. If Ron's there I'll give him a piece of my mind. We'll drop the kids by Mum's place; she'll be delighted to have them."

"You'll want to stop by St. Mungos tomorrow and get your arm checked out," Harry added. "I healed it decently enough but I'm no healer; they can get it back to normal for you."

Hermione nodded and thanked them once again before heading up to the guest room. She'd stayed with Harry and Ginny enough to know where it is, and she knew that they would probably like some time alone as, after all, this was Harry's day off of work. As she walked up she heard Ginny mutter, "I'm going to murder my brother." Hermione smiled slightly and shook her head. Ron might be blood, but Ginny was right. She was family, and she had a right to keep her family as intact as possible. She didn't have her parents anymore, and had never been particularly close to her extended family, which meant she had the Weasleys and Harry and that was about it. She'd make due. And she'd figure out what to do about Ron soon enough. She couldn't picture herself staying with him, not after this, but she did want to make peace with him. If they were going to co-exist, she needed to make peace with him.


	2. Chapter Two

"Back off," Draco muttered, shoving his way past trainees and to the front of the room. "Insufferable-"

"Malfoy," a stern voice said. He stopped talking almost immediately and glowered at his superior. "They're under your instruction. You could be kinder."

He frowned and sighed, glancing at the people behind him. They were all young, fresh out of Hogwarts and working on becoming healers. He'd had the job a few years himself, which was why he was supposed to teach them, and he hated it. This was his first year of teaching and he needed to ask never to do it again. The job was legitimately driving him insane and if he had to do this every year, he would have to quit and go work in a small Romanian wizarding town where he would never have to teach anyone again. "The first step to treating spattergroit…"

The young healers listened attentively and apprehensively, as they always did. Draco knew they didn't trust him, hardly anyone did, but he was damn good at his job and he wasn't going to let his past sneak up on him. The older healers could respect his talent, at least, and he could handle that. They didn't have to like him and they could reprimand him all they wanted to as long as they respected his talent.

He was halfway through explaining their treatment when another healer walked into the room, cleared her throat slightly, and said, "Mr. Malfoy, it's your son, he's…"

Draco's face paled slightly and he looked to his supervisor before hurrying out of the room. He didn't know what was wrong, but it was always something. St. Mungos had opened their childcare area two years ago and Draco had been bringing Scorpius for a year and a half, ever since his wife had passed away. He didn't trust anyone to watch over Scorpius, and while the situation wasn't ideal, he could watch over Scorpius every now and then if he was at St. Mungos. There was usually an issue, at least once a week and sometimes twice, and it also drove him crazy. Everything drove him crazy nowadays; he hardly slept, he worked all the time, and when he wasn't working he was taking care of Scorpius.

He hurried into the room and looked around before spotting Scorpius sitting under a tall table with tears running down his cheeks. Scorpius looked over when he entered, let out a small cry of, "Daddy!" and crawled out to run over to him. Draco sighed and opened his arms to let his son jump into them.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly. "Daddy is at work, you know that."

"I miss you," Scorpius mumbled, sticking his thumb in his mouth and chewing on it nervously. "I miss Mummy."

Draco sighed again. Half of Scorpius's meltdowns were about missing Astoria. Draco missed her too, but she and Scorpius had formed a remarkable bond over the first two years of his life. "I know, Scorpius," he said softly. "Daddy misses her too. We'll look at pictures tonight, yes? But right now, I have to work. Can you draw a picture for me while I do? And we'll look at pictures of Mummy tonight."

Scorpius frowned and hugged his father tightly. "...don't want you to go…"

"I know," Draco said. "I don't have to work tomorrow, we can spend all day together tomorrow. But I have to go now; Daddy has to help someone feel better."

Scorpius nodded slightly and Draco let out a sigh of relief. It still took another five minutes of coaxing, but soon his son sat down at a table with some muggle contraption and started drawing. It was mostly scribbles, but Draco would hang it on the wall so Scorpius could feel proud of himself for drawing it in the first place. Draco liked to think he was a good father, he liked to think that he wasn't damaging Scorpius too much. That's what Astoria would want for him; it's what Astoria had always wanted. She'd seen potential in him when he'd been afraid, convinced that he would ruin any child he had.

Draco left the child care area and went upstairs to get tea. He was exhausted from thinking about Astoria, he always was, and he needed to just stop for a moment and refocus himself. Of course as soon as he reached the tearoom, a patronus appeared before him, saying that he had a patient he needed to see immediately. "Of course," he muttered, putting his desire for tea on hold. "Whoever it is had better be dying."

He hurried down the stairs, finding his way to the room he was sent to. A different healer was stationed outside the door, arms folded across his chest. Draco knew and despised the man; Ryan Baker, a year younger but just as good at his job as Draco was. Draco managed to beat him by a slim margin in aptitude for the job, and Ryan had resented him ever since. Draco resented the other man too, and was furious that Ryan had been sent to meet him. "What the hell is this?" Draco asked, folding his arms across his chest and scowling at his coworker. "I don't have time for your nonsense, Baker."

"Davies wanted the best to take care of this one. Apparently you're the best, but I don't see it."

"If I wasn't the best I wouldn't have been summoned," Draco muttered. "You can go take care of someone less important."

Ryan Baker scoffed and said, "Yeah, sure. Enjoy your _splinching_ patient, Malfoy."

With that he was gone, and Draco frowned as he moved to open the door. Splinching patients were hardly high priority. If anyone but the Minister of Magic himself were in that room, Draco would turn around and leave. He wasn't about to waste his time healing someone who'd been stupid enough to get himself splinched. Draco walked inside the room, saw the woman sitting in the center waiting to be healed, and promptly said, "You've got to be _fucking_ kidding me."

Hermione Granger scowled as well. "Do you have to be crass, Malfoy?"

"Did you _request_ me?"

"Merlin, no," she said icily. "Ginny demanded the best. She's with her boys getting a treat in the tearoom now. You're the best?"

"I'm too good to handle a simple splinching. And it looks like you're healed, so why are you here?"

"Harry and Ginny's orders," she said. "Harry's not the best healer and my arm is still hurting and...Just fix it, will you? I'll be out of your hair."

He stared at her for a moment, frustrated beyond belief. He couldn't believe he had to heal Hermione Granger, who could probably walk into St. Mungos and get a job as a healer just because she was naturally talented. "It'll take a moment." he finally said, coming closer to her with a scowl permanently etched on his face. He still didn't adore Hermione Granger, nor did he feel like he really had a right to heal her, especially after trying to kill her.

They remained silent while he examined her arm, though he did scoff when he realized how terrible of a job Harry Potter had done on it. As an auror he really should be better trained on how to heal something as basic as a splinching. "How's your son?"

He jumped slightly and looked up at her, confused. "My what?"

"Your son. How is he?"

"How do you know about my son?" She stared at him like he was an idiot, and he quickly remembered that she'd seen his son before. It didn't happen often, mostly in passing moments in Diagon Alley, but she would know that he had a son. "He's fine," Draco said, looking back at her arm to check it over one last time. "This shouldn't hurt anymore. If it does, complain to someone else."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Believe me, I wouldn't have chosen to come to you unless someone had forced me to."

She stood, grabbing her handbag and getting ready to leave the room. When she stood though, she stopped, her eyes confused and her hand drifting absently toward her stomach. "Granger what's wrong now?" he asked, already tired of dealing with her.

She straightened up and sent him a slightly confused smile. "I'm fine, sorry. Have a nice day, Malfoy."

Then she was gone, walking confidently out of the room and out of his mind for the rest of the day. Draco spent the rest of his day on the spattergroit case, since it was particularly disgusting and some of the newer healers were having a hard time handling it without vomiting all over the floor. Draco had at least healed someone with the disease before and knew what to expect; the poor saps could hardly even walk into the room. It did take the rest of his day, and when he was done, it was well past time for him to leave. He'd promised Scorpius they could go home and look at pictures of Astoria, which he loved to do, and Draco didn't want to break a promise to him.

He found his way back to the area with the children and Scorpius came running over, ten drawings in hand that he proudly showed Draco. Draco smiled when he saw them and promised that they'd look at them all once they got home. He needed to get out of the hospital before some case dragged him back in. He didn't have to work at all the following day, but with his luck he'd get a patronus sent his way saying there had been some big magical accident and that no one could come but him.

They took the Knight Bus home, because Scorpius loved riding it and would always laugh every time they took a sharp corner. Draco was glad his son was so happy, so different from himself at that age, and Draco couldn't even be bothered to be embarrassed at how much attention his son was attracting with his joyous laughter. The fact of the matter was, his son was laughing and Draco knew that would go away when he got older. People would judge him for his last name, despite the wizarding community getting slightly better about things like that. There would always be some kids who thought they were better than Scorpius because they didn't have a Death Eater for a parent. Scorpius didn't know yet what that was; Draco would have to tell him when he was older. For now though, his son adored him and wanted to be like him, and Draco wasn't ready for that to go away.

It seemed to take forever for them to return home, but finally they were there. Draco had left his family's manor behind years ago. His parents still lived there but he didn't want to be around his own father too much and he didn't trust them not to instill some of the old beliefs in his son. Draco wanted Scorpius to be better than himself; he wanted Scorpius to be kind and accepting so that he wouldn't end up getting murdered or sent to prison. He wanted a better life for him. So instead of taking any chances, he'd left the manor once he'd married Astoria. They'd bought a muggle house in a muggle neighborhood just outside London, because he'd wanted to be close to work. It was a quaint house, nothing like what he'd lived in before, but Draco still liked it. It reminded him of his wife, and she reminded him to be a good person. Or, at least, a better one than before.

That evening he sat on the sofa in the family room looking through photo albums with Scorpius. His son was quiet when they did, like always, though he did perk up whenever there was a picture of Astoria holding him. Finally, he picked up the nerve to ask, "Did Mummy love me?"

Draco nodded immediately. "Very much, Scorpius. She loved you more than she loved Daddy."

He thought his son would smile, but Draco's words were met with a frown. "Why did Mummy go away? I miss her."

"I know," Draco said with a sigh. "I miss her too. Mummy...Mummy didn't want to leave, but she got sick and she had to go. We'll see her again someday."

"When?" Scorpius whined softly. "Tomorrow?"

Draco was surprised when he chuckled softly. "No, not tomorrow. It will be a long time before we see Mummy again. But do you know what she would want?" Scorpius shook his head, looking eagerly at Draco. "She'd want you to brush your teeth and get on pajamas so you can go to sleep. Maybe she'll come visit you in your dreams."

Scorpius grinned excitedly at the prospect of his mother coming to see him when he was asleep, so he hopped off the sofa and ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Draco came to check on him a few minutes later and saw that he was sitting on his bed, a book in hand, and waiting for Draco to come and read him a story. He did, because it was one of the times he felt like he was improving his relationship with his son. Draco hoped that they would stay closer than he'd been to his own father; he hoped that he wouldn't turn into his own father and ruin the only son he had.

Draco read the story and by the time he finished, Scorpius was fast asleep, holding on to a picture of his mother and smiling slightly. Draco moved the picture so the glass wouldn't break and hurt him, and then went back out to the family room to work on hanging Scorpius's drawings on the wall. It had been a long day and he wanted to get to bed, but that seemed out of the question. He needed to make sure Scorpius would be happy upon waking first before he bothered to think about what he wanted.


	3. Chapter Three

Hermione laughed as her nephews ran around her in circles. Albus, only three and a half, was chasing after James, who'd stolen his favorite toy. She shouldn't laugh, but she absolutely loved her nephews and they were laughing and enjoying themselves as well. The boys were close and James would inevitably return the toy, but for now the chasing was a fun game they didn't want to stop. When Albus tripped and fell, however, the game was immediately over. "Hey there," Hermione said, scooping him up and giving him a hug. "It's just a gall, you'll be okay. Can you gave me a smile?" she asked softly.

Albus sniffled and wiped his nose. "My elbow hurts though," he mumbled, tears already forming in his eyes. "James made me fall!"

"No I didn't!" James argued immediately. "You fell on your own stupid elbow!"

"Aunt 'Mione, he called me stupid!"

"Both of you need to stay calm," Hermione said, her voice gentle but firm. "Albus, James didn't want you to get hurt. And James, you need to be nicer to your brother."

"But Aunt-"

"Boys," Ginny sighed, coming into the room from the kitchen. "That's enough. Apologize to each other, now."

Hermione watched as the two kids apologized to one another. James handed Albus the toy and Albus hugged it tightly before beginning to happily dance around with his stuffed bear. Hermione hoped they would always stay close, because it would be nice if they grew to be friends as well as brothers. She stood then and followed Ginny back into the kitchen. Her friend was making soup that night, which Ginny was particularly good at making. "Can I help at all?" Hermione asked.

Ginny sent her a small smile and said, "I'm not letting you anywhere near my soup, Hermione. I love you, but I'd like to be able to eat tonight."

They both laughed at that; Hermione had never been particularly good at cooking anything, and on more than one occasion she'd ruined Ginny's perfect dish. "I'll set the table then." she said, rolling her eyes at her friend.

"Much appreciated. It's only got a few minutes left and Harry should be home by then."

Ginny went back to her soup and Hermione turned to set the table. She was glad to be able to stay with Harry and Ginny and the boys; they made her feel welcome and she genuinely enjoyed staying with them. It had been a week since she'd discovered Ron in bed with Vanessa, and she hadn't spoken to him yet. Hermione was nervous to see him, because she was confident she would abandon her principles and her wand and punch him square in the nose. "Hey," Hermione said once she'd finished putting bowls on the table. "Are you sure you're okay with me staying here? It's been longer than I intended, and I'm not sure when I'll go back home."

"Of course I don't mind," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "We're glad you're here, Hermione. The boys adore you and you know that Harry and I do too. Besides, if I were in your situation, I wouldn't want to go home either. You can stay as long as you want, okay?"

"Thank you," Hermione said, relief washing over her at her friend's words. "I just don't want to go punching your brother, and believe me there's a good chance that I will if I have to see him before I'm ready."

Ginny laughed and said, "You're better than I am. If Harry cheated on me, I would pummel him. And to be honest, I would gladly go and pummel Ron too."

They were both laughing then, because they knew Ginny could take on Harry and probably win too. Just then there was a slight pop, and Harry appeared in the kitchen with them. "What are we laughing about?" he asked, which made them laugh harder.

Harry just looked confused and Ginny walked over to give him a quick peck. "I love you," she said. "I just love you."

Hermione smiled slightly as she watched her two friends. It sent a small pang through her heart, because part of her missed her husband and sweet moments like these. "Dad!" James yelled, running into the kitchen and breaking up the sweet moment. "Did you bring me anything from uncle George's store? Mum said you went." Albus ran in too, excitedly asking the same question.

Harry just laughed and held out small toys for the two boys. He really was a good father. Hermione knew he'd been afraid of being a bad one, since the first eleven years of his life were spent without any sort of good male role model. At Hogwarts he'd had Hagrid, Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore, and while they were good they'd come later in his life. He'd been afraid he wouldn't take from them and would take from his uncle Vernon because he was the only male figure Harry had at a young age.

They all sat down at the table to eat soup. The meal was full of laughter and happiness, and Hermione was thrilled to be a part of the family dinner. After, the boys got ready for bed, and the three adults remained at the table. Harry had Firewhiskey in hand and Hermione had been tempted into one as well, though Ginny had chosen to drink pumpkin juice. For the third night in a row, they sat and chatted, enjoying the company of one another.

Hermione went to bed a bit tipsy that night, but happy. She didn't think about Ron, which was a big achievement considering she usually wallowed at night. But after sleeping only a few hours, Hermione woke to the sound of retching coming from the bathroom next door. She sat up, confused, and quickly climbed out of bed in case it was one of the boys. When she entered the bathroom she didn't see her nephews; she saw Ginny. "Gin?" Hermione asked, horrified. She hurried to get to her friend and gently took her hair, pulling it away from her face. "Ginny what's wrong?" Hermione asked. She pressed a hand to Ginny's forehead but it didn't feel warm, and Ginny didn't seem to be sick in any other way.

"It's fine, it's okay," Ginny said, sounding slightly exhausted. She sat back on her heels and rubbed her face with her hands, sighing softly. A moment later she sat forward and threw up a bit more; Hermione just continued to hold her hair and rub her back gently. "It's...It's just the morning sickness, it's okay. It's…"

"Morning sickness?" Hermione asked, her eyes widening slightly.

Ginny sighed and shook her head. "Damn. _Damn_. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone yet; I'm only six weeks along and I...I need to be careful because if...if something…" She trailed off and looked at Hermione with a bit of fear in her eyes.

"I understand," Hermione said. "My lips are sealed. But _Ginny_ -"

She couldn't help but smile, feeling happy for her friend. Ginny had always wanted a big family, as had Harry, and they were getting that big family now. "I know," Ginny said, a smile coming over her face as well. "I know, I'm so excited. Harry's over the moon, of course. The boys...I think the boys will be happy, or at least I hope they will be. They'll get another playmate."

"I'm really happy for you," Hermione said with a small smile. "That's really exciting, and I can't wait to be an aunt to your next child. That...That is, assuming I'm…"

"Oh please," Ginny said, finally standing up. Hermione stood with her and stepped aside to let Ginny wash her hands and her mouth. "Hermione, you will always be family, whether or not you're married to Ron. Your marital status to my idiot brother doesn't determine how we view you. And even if you tried to back out, you'd have a hell of a time getting my boys to stop calling you their aunt."

A smile quickly came across her face. Hermione adored her nephews, all of them, and she hoped that others would feel the same as Ginny. She could understand why they wouldn't, because Ron was their family by blood, and she was just family by marriage, but she could always hope. "You're really a wonderful friend, Gin," Hermione said with a slight smile. "Let's get to bed though, yeah? I'm exhausted, and you must be too. If you ever need help with anything you have to let me know, okay? I'd love to help."

Ginny nodded and gave Hermione a hug before going back to her bedroom. Hermione followed suit and went back to the guest room, laying back down in the bed and smiling slightly. Ginny was going to be a mother again, and Hermione really was excited for her. Ginny was an excellent mother; she knew exactly what needed to be done, she knew when to worry and when to let things just work themselves out. She knew everything, just like Molly Weasley did. The longer she thought about that, however, Hermione could feel jealousy clawing at her heart.

If only she had known when things were okay and when they weren't. If only she'd had that natural sense that something had gone wrong. She could have protected Rose. She could have fought for her daughter. Instead, Rose was buried in the ground, nothing more than a memory and a small box. Tears started to trickle down her cheeks at the thought, and her hands wrapped around her midsection so she could hold herself. She wished Ron was there, not for the first time, because he knew how to cheer her up and make her feel like she wasn't going to die from the pain of losing Rose.

She fell asleep that way, her mind wracked with guilt and pain. She dreamed about finding Ron with Vanessa. Needless to say, the rest of her night was far less peaceful than the beginning. When she woke she felt relieved, because at least the dreams were gone. She might have had them, but at least she was finished with them now.

Hermione got dressed for work that morning and left the house before anyone else. She just needed to work for a long time, and then she could forget about all of her unpleasant memories. She could stop crying, which was something that she almost always did when it came to thoughts of Rose. "Good morning, Miss." a younger witch said as Hermione entered the Ministry of Magic. Hermione just nodded at her and smiled before heading up to her office. She couldn't bear to talk with anyone, because she was bound to let something slip and it wouldn't be good for her or Ron if she did.

She got to her office and closed the door with a relieved sigh. She was finally going to be able to focus and forget about everything that bothered her. After work that day she would run by her house and grab a few more clothes, because she didn't want to just wear the same three outfits over and over again. It wouldn't be pleasant, but she could handle herself in case Ron was there. "Hermione," a voice said quietly. She jumped and her eyes flew open, landing on the chair she left pushed out for guests. "Hermione, we need to talk."

"Get the _hell_ out of my office," Hermione said, pleased that she'd found the strength to keep her voice from shaking. "Ronald, _now._ "

"We need to talk." Ron said, standing up and reaching out toward her.

Hermione pulled her wand out and aimed it at him. "Stay away from me. I don't want to talk to you right now; I'll talk to you later, when I don't want to hex you."

"Hermione, please," Ron pleaded. "Hermione, I've left Vanessa. I made...I made a bloody stupid mistake. But that's all it was; it was a mistake. I love you, and only you, and I want to be with you. I messed up, I know, but we can get through this."

" _Out. Now_."

"Hermione-" She pulled the door open and held it for him, wanting him to leave so she could go back to focusing. "Just come home, Hermione, just come home."

He left then, and Hermione slammed the door shut and put her head in her hands. She wanted to go home, but not to Ron. She wanted to go back to Ginny and Harry and the boys, because they hadn't done anything to him, and Ron had broken her heart. "Focus," she whispered to herself. "Just focus, and forget about him." And she did; Hermione spent the rest of her day working as hard as possible to make sure she wasn't able to think about anyone else.


	4. Chapter Four

"I need coffee," Draco muttered, rubbing his forehead as he stared at the large number of people in the waiting area. He didn't know what had happened or why there was a massive amount of people, but he assumed it had something to do with quidditch, as a few were holding brooms. "A lot of coffee."

He turned around and shook his head miserably. At least he wasn't going to have to worry about Scorpius; his son was off with Blaise and Blaise's daughter for the day, because he'd gotten in a fight with another kid at the children's area and Draco didn't want to rush down for more issues. He'd already had a busy day planned, and now he'd have to work late and make sure everyone was healed and could go home. "Malfoy," someone said, pulling his attention out of thoughts about his son. He looked at his superior, a woman they all called Davies. She was stern and stout, but kind whenever she could be. "Malfoy, do you mind running your trainees through quick treatments? There was a brutal quidditch game and a lot of people ended up hurt; why they didn't have healers on hand to help is beyond me, but it's a good teaching opportunity."

Draco sighed. She was right, it was an excellent opportunity to teach the trainees about how to get through a large number of patients in a short amount of time. "I'll need someone to check up on the others I was supposed to see today." he said, trying not to sound too frustrated at having to teach. He'd gotten better in the last week or so, it hadn't bothered him quite as much, but it still wasn't his favorite thing to do.

"I'll take care of them if you give me names. And Malfoy?"

"Hmm?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, partially out of frustration. He was always frustrated now a days, it wasn't anything to do with Davies in particular.

"Do be gentle? With the trainees, I mean. They worked with Baker yesterday and it was torture for everyone involved."

He cocked a grin then, because at least he was doing better than Baker. "Of course. I'd best be off now though." He nodded at her before turning to gather the young healers and leading them to the waiting room.

It was a long, hard day, but at least it was productive. Most of the injuries he encountered that day were broken bones that he could heal with a flick of his wand now, but he let the others have most of the control. A few were better than others, which was to be expected, though he'd like to think he did a good job of treating all of them fairly. He probably hadn't, he rarely did a good job with things like that, but he'd tried.

When the day was over, Draco found himself standing at the front door to Blaise's house. He rubbed his forehead again, still wishing for coffee, before knocking and going inside. He'd hardly set foot in the house when he heard his son's familiar voice yell, "Daddy!" A moment later someone knocked into him and Draco struggled to keep his balance at the impact.

"Did you have fun today?" Draco asked, lifting his son and listening to his quick story about how the day had gone. Scorpius frequently talked fast when he got excited, and Draco thought the quirk was nice. He'd caught up to Scorpius's quick mind after a while, and while others couldn't always understand what he was saying, Draco did.

"Lots and lots of fun, we went to the muggle place with the animals and we petted a goat and-"

Draco just smiled as he listened to the story. Blaise and his daughter, Olivia, soon came into the entryway as well. Blaise took one look at his friend before nodding toward the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"Please." Draco managed to say before returning his attention to Scorpius.

Eventually his son left his arms to go and play with Olivia, and Draco settled into a chair at the kitchen table and sent his friend a tired smile. "Long day then? How's the training going?"

"Some of them have promise," Draco said. "We had a quidditch incident today with no healer on duty, completely ridiculous if you ask me, but we handled it well."

"That's why you look exhausted then?" Blaise asked suspiciously. "Astoria would kill you for doing this to yourself, Draco."

"Astoria's dead, it's not like she can," Draco muttered, though the words still hurt slightly. He'd recovered well from her death, he'd had to for Scorpius' sake, but he would always miss her. "I just can't sleep sometimes. It's fine; I'm fine."

"When was the last time you slept more than four hours?"

"Can we not do this?"

"Draco," Blaise said sternly. "When?"

"Sometime last week, probably. I don't know, okay? I have work and I have Scorpius, and it's more important that I take care of him and keep my job than it is for me to get sleep."

"And when someone gets hurt on your watch?"

"That won't happen."

"It very well could you bloody stubborn bastard," Blaise said. "Let me take Scorpius for the night. Go home and sleep."

"I don't need you to watch my son for me," Draco said. "I'm perfectly capable of handling this on my own. I can handle this on my own."

"I'm just trying to help."

"I don't need it," Draco said sternly. "Change the subject now or I'll just leave."

Blaise sighed heavily and shook his head. "The kids loved going to the zoo. Scorpius is convinced that he wants a tiger; he tried to convince me to buy one for him."

Draco grinned, amused once again by his son's antics. "What can I say? He loves exotic creatures."

Blaise laughed and said, "Yeah, I came to realize that. Olivia loves getting to see him by the way. She likes to have someone to play with."

"Scorpius loves getting to see her too. On the bright side," Draco said, feeling worried for his son's future once again, "At least they'll have a friend when they go to Hogwarts and no one else wants to interact with them. Well, Olivia might not have a big problem, but Scorpius…"

"He'll be fine," Blaise said. "He's not you, and the kids he goes to school with won't have the same prejudices that we did. You didn't ruin your son's future."

"I'll believe that when I see it. We should get going though," Draco said, finishing up the last of his coffee. "Thank you for this and for taking him today. You'll be over for dinner on Friday, yeah?"

"That's the plan, I believe," Blaise said. "I do love when you serve me."

Draco laughed again and rolled his eyes. He sent his mug into the sink and walked into the living room to get Scorpius. His son complained when he had to leave his friend, which was to be expected, but Draco just told him that they were going to go home and eat dinner and that if he was lucky, they would play a game that night. Scorpius hurried after that, hugging Olivia tightly and telling her that he'd see her soon. He was glad that they were friends, because Scorpius deserved to have a good friend.

They took the Knight Bus home, because Draco didn't feel like apparating and he didn't want Scorpius to feel sick because he'd apparated. "Daddy," Scorpius said after a while, pulling on his shirt. "Daddy, that lady's crying."

"Just leave her be, don't stare." Draco said, finding himself engrossed in the Daily Prophet from that morning. There was a particularly interesting story about the Ministry, and he was always interested in what was going on there. He wouldn't work in the Ministry because that would just be asking for trouble, but he could always read up on the latest stories.

Draco felt his son leave his side, which made him perk up a bit. He looked around and his heart skipped a beat. Scorpius had wandered over to a woman on the other end of the bus, and upon closer inspection, Draco realized that Scorpius had wandered over to Hermione Granger. Panic filled his mind. He was worried that Granger would push his son away, or that she would glare and get angry that she'd even been approached in the first place. He stood up, worried, and quickly approached his old classmate and his son. "Scorpius, come on, we're getting off soon."

Scorpius turned his head and frowned at his father. "Daddy, you said we had to help people, that's why you help people. She was sad."

"It's none of our business," Draco said, avoiding eye contact with Granger at all costs. "I'm sorry for him."

"It's okay," she said, smiling at Scorpius. "He's a sweet boy, you know."

Draco still wouldn't look at her. "I'm aware. Scorpius come now, we're getting off soon."

"But Daddy!" Scorpius protested, grabbing her hand. "Daddy I wanna help!"

"Scorpius please-"

"He's alright," Granger said. "Honestly, talking to him has cheered me up. I'm glad he came over."

Draco stared at her then, their eyes finally meeting. Her own were ringed with red but looked happy enough now. "I don't need you to tell me how to parent," he said venomously, covering Scorpius' ears. "My son shouldn't be talking to strangers."

"I'm hardly a stranger. We went to school together for six years and we weren't exactly friends but-"

"We were the opposite, actually. Stay away from my son, Granger."

"Okay," she said, putting her hands up. "Okay. I apologize."

Draco rolled his eyes, suddenly furious with her for doing what he'd asked her to do. She just made him look bad in front of Scorpius, and that was the opposite of what he needed now. "Daddy I don't understand," Scorpius said once they sat back down in their seats. "You said we had to help people. Why can't I help that lady?"

"Scorpius, I...I don't know how to explain it to you. That lady...That lady isn't...She's...She's just a person we can't help. Okay? She has other people to help us."

"She's alone," Scorpius argued, folding his small hands across his chest and pouting. "Daddy she's alone."

"Going home," Draco corrected him. "She's going home. She works in the Ministry, do you remember what that is?" Scorpius nodded, so Draco continued. "She must have dealt with some mean people at the Ministry, and that's why she's upset. But she's got family to go home to, and she'll have someone to make her feel better soon. She'll be okay, but we need to leave her be."

"But Daddy she's alone now," Scorpius said, drawing out some of his words. "She's alone now, Daddy."

"Don't worry," Draco promised. "What do you say we eat some ice cream tonight after dinner?"

"Oh I love ice cream!" Scorpius said, seeming to forget about their previous conversation. Draco smiles, relieved, because he can make his son happy even if he messes up sometimes.

Draco made dinner that night, which never really turned out well but Scorpius didn't complain. He never did, because in his three and a half years he'd learned that Draco did the best he could with a pot and pan. Scorpius was smart, Draco admired him for that. "Daddy is it time for ice cream yet?" Scorpius asked after they'd finished eating.

"It sure is," Draco said, smiling as Scorpius clapped his hands excitedly and wiggled in his seat as he waited for ice cream. "Do you want chocolate or vanilla?"

"Both," Scorpius said, giggling. "Daddy I want both!"

"Okay." Draco said. He was a bit of a pushover sometimes with his son, but it was okay. His son was loved and happy, and in the end, that was really what mattered. After dinner Draco tucked him into bed, wishing him good dreams and hoping that Scorpius would stay asleep the entire night. There were still some times when he woke up with a nightmare, and Draco didn't want his son to have to suffer through them.


	5. Chapter Five

Ginny shook her head and poured herself another cup of tea. "I can't believe he was such an arse. Well, actually never mind. I can definitely believe that he was. He's Draco Malfoy, after all."

"I just feel bad for upsetting him," Hermione said. "I mean he was definitely not kind, but he was protecting his son, and I admire him for that. I never thought Draco Malfoy would be a parent over me."

"But you should be a parent," Ginny said without really thinking. "Hermione, you'd be an excellent mother. If you ever tried again, you never know. It might not...It might…"

"Ginny," Harry said, shaking his head, as if it were a warning. "Hermione, I'm sorry you had a bad encounter with him. I'm sorry you had a bad encounter with Ron too; I can't believe he showed up to your office. He's really pushing it."

"He's lucky I didn't hex him," Hermione said, forcing herself to smile at Harry. Ginny looked nervously at her, and Hermione made herself smile at Ginny too. "It's alright. I...It's been three and a half years. I should be able to talk about her."

"Well it's not easy," Ginny said quickly. "Hermione, losing your daughter…"

"It's fine," Hermione said. "It's fine, Ginny, I'm fine. Harry, stop looking at me like that. Can we go back to complaining about Draco Malfoy and how rude he was? I don't really want to talk about this after all. Let's just change the subject. Please?"

They did; everyone obliged her if the conversation ever turned to Rose. She was a subject Hermione could never really bear to talk about, a subject that made her want to fall apart. Everyone knew that, so they left her alone and let her change the subject. She'd never really dealt well with what had happened, but she had moved on. Hermione wasn't going to let it destroy her, she knew that she couldn't. If avoiding talking about her daughter helped her to not fall apart, then Hermione just wouldn't talk about what had happened. She wouldn't do it to herself.

The topic shifted to Harry's work; there was apparently a big issue in the Department of Mysteries. Hermione hadn't heard of the issue, but she had been incredibly busy the entire day so that wasn't a surprise. She'd also avoided leaving her office after her encounter with Ron, because she didn't want to deal with anyone asking her about her husband or why he'd come to see her when truthfully, Ron hadn't come to see her at work in over a year.

Eventually Hermione excused herself to go to bed. She was tired, if she was honest. She just wanted to go to bed and forget about everything. When she closed her eyes though she saw Ron with Vanessa, thrusting, panting. Her eyes flew open and she turned to her side. The bed was too big without Ron. He always slept on the left side and now he was gone; her bed felt cold and empty, and part of her wondered if it would ever feel warm and friendly again. She didn't know; she didn't know how to handle her current situation. She wanted to shy away from it, like she'd done with Rose, but she had to deal with this. She had to see Ron, to confront him, and to make everything better. Maybe that meant separating; if she was honest it probably did. But maybe separating was what they needed; maybe separating was the right move for them, and she just needed to admit it to herself.

Hermione didn't think much before throwing on clothes, grabbing her wand, and sneaking out of the house. Ron was right; they needed to talk. They needed to figure out what to do; the unknown was making her uncomfortable. She got outside and raised her wand. Within seconds, almost, the Knight Bus appeared before her. She still hated it, she always would, but after getting splinched she really didn't want to apparate any time soon. Brooms were absolutely out of the question, so the Knight Bus was her best option. She wasn't about to steal Floo Powder from her friends, even though they really wouldn't mind. It just felt wrong.

She was standing outside her own house within twenty minutes. The bus ride was considerably less eventful than the one she'd had earlier, though that wasn't a bit surprise because no one approached her on this one. Hermione stared at her house, a bit nervous, before walking up to the front door and going inside. It was quiet, as she'd expected. There was a light on in the kitchen so she made her way into the room, finding Ron sitting at the table, a glass of firewhiskey in hand. She watched as he downed it and ran his fingers through his hair. He reached for the bottle and pulled himself another glass before quickly drinking at one too. "Ron." Hermione said, finally making herself known. She watched as her husband jumped slightly and turned to look at her with a shocked expression.

"You came home?" he asked, almost as if he didn't believe she was really there."

"For a bit," Hermione answered, folding her arms across her chest and feeling uncomfortable. "You were right. We need to talk. But it seems you've had your fair share of alcohol tonight, so I'm not really sure if talking is the best idea anymore."

"What? No, Hermione, I'm fine. I'm not drunk; it was a small glass- _two_ small glasses. I'm fine. Let's talk, yeah? Are you going to forgive me?"

"Forgive you?" Hermione asked. "How exactly do you expect me to do that?"

"Well, I mean, you were distant, and I...I needed someone after Rose, and you weren't there. You wouldn't talk about her."

"Rose was three and a half years ago, Ronald," Hermione said, furious. "Don't use her as an excuse for what you did. Ron, if I was too distant, you should have talked to me. You shouldn't have run off to Vanessa."

"But if I tried to talk to you, Hermione, you shut down."

"I...What do you want me to say?" Hermione asked, quiet. "What do you want me to say? My being distant doesn't excuse you cheating."

"I know," Ron said quickly. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay? But we can get past this. I'll tell Vanessa that we need to stop-I haven't seen her since you found out. She's been at work but I've been in the back. George is bloody suspicious, but I don't want him to know yet."

Hermione bit her lip, trying to tell herself that she needed to tell Ron it was over. He'd cheated on her, he'd broken her trust, and tried to excuse it by saying it was her fault. He was wrong, and he was an arse for saying that to her. But she loved him. She'd loved him for a long time, and it was hard to swallow that and just get over everything they'd been through together. "Ron, I...I'm just…"

He stood up and came closer to her, his hand resting gently on her shoulders. "Hermione, I love you. I've always loved you. Vanessa...She was a mistake. She was a terrible mistake and I'm mad at myself for making it. But let's put her in the past; let's move forward. We can...We can look into adopting, I know you were thinking of that last year. I wasn't, but we could talk about it again. We can finally make the office into a library for you-anything you want, Hermione. I'll do anything. Let's just move forward."

"I'm...Ron I can't just forget what happened," Hermione said. She felt vulnerable and she hated it; she wanted to steel herself and make herself immune to Ron's words. "You know I can't just forget what happened."

"All you have to do is forgive," Ron said. He pulled her closer until he was hugging her tightly. Hermione felt her heart warm for a split second, but it cooled when she thought that Ron had probably held Vanessa like this too. "Hermione," he said softly, moving a hand up to brush a tear from her cheek that had fallen. "We can get through this. We can."

He sent her a small smile, the one she loved more than anything else, before leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. Hermione felt cold when he did though; she felt like the kiss was fake and bad and nothing like what they'd had the first few years of their marriage. So she kissed him harder. Hermione wanted to feel something; she wanted the spark to come back so that everything could just go back to normal.

Ron took that as a sign of her interest, and he pressed himself against her. Before she knew it their clothes were off and Ron was lying her down on their bed and kissing every inch of exposed skin. Soon enough he was closing his eyes and moaning in pleasure before slowly climbing off of Hermione and lying down next to her. "See?" Ron said, panting softly. "See, we're good together. Merlin, I don't remember the last time we had sex."

"Three weeks before I caught you with Vanessa." Hermione whispered, pulling a blanket over herself so she wasn't exposed anymore.

"Right," Ron said, grinning. "We should really do this more often. I miss you, Hermione."

Hermione looked away from him and toward the wall. There was a picture of them on their wedding day, next to a picture of them on the day they told everyone that Hermione was pregnant. She felt tears start to slide down her cheeks as she stared at the pictures and realized that she hadn't felt anything but sadness throughout the sex. She'd felt cheated and sad and disgusting, because she knew that Ron had been thrusting into another girl that way he'd just been thrusting into her. "I can't do this." she whispered softly.

Ron looked at her, confused. "You can't do what, Hermione?"

He sounded angry. He sounded like he was going to yell at her if she told him the truth. But she had to; she couldn't let herself stay with Ron after what he'd done. "I want a divorce."

They fought for an hour after her admission. Hermione dressed quickly and stuffed clothes in a suitcase with tears pouring down her cheeks. Ron yelled at her, and she yelled back, until she was hoarse and hurrying out of their home and into the street. The door opened after her and Hermione looked back toward her front door, afraid. She didn't want to fight with Ron anymore. She didn't want to scream at him and say terrible things. She wasn't in the mood, in the first place, and she hated fighting with Ron; she always had.

It happened quickly. She heard Ron scream, " _Hermione watch out!_ " and saw a flash of light before she was thrown into the air and then slammed onto the ground. She felt dazed and confused. Tires squealed and doors slammed before Ron's panicked face appeared before her. "Hermione! Hermione-Merlin, don't worry; don't worry, I'll fix this."

He grabbed her and Hermione felt like screaming in pain. She managed to contain herself, though if she did scream she wouldn't know. Almost as soon as he grabbed her, Ron apparated. Soon after they did, the white walls of St. Mungos became blurry and Hermione lost consciousness.

A part of her thought she deserved what had happened. She'd hurt Ron by telling him she wanted a divorce. And he was right, she was the reason their daughter was dead. She'd been inconveniencing Harry and Ginny for a while now, even though they would never actually admit that to her. It made her sad to think about, but maybe this really was something she deserved. If dying in a car accident was how she was going to go, Hermione could make peace with it. At least, she realized, she wouldn't have to feel the pain of losing her daughter anymore.


	6. Chapter Six

Draco woke with a start. He'd passed out on the sofa in the family room after he'd put Scorpius to bed. It had only been three hours, but he didn't sleep heavily and he'd heart a noise. After sitting up, he noticed a patronus that was seemingly staring at him. "High profile patient has come into St. Mungos badly injured. Your presence is requested immediately."

The patronus, a small fox, disappeared immediately. Draco could recognize his superior's voice and he sighed heavily before rubbing his face with his hands and standing up. "It had better be the bloody Minister to wake me up." he muttered to himself, even though he knew that wasn't going to be true. High profile usually meant someone famous, and the minister was usually healthy and never really came in for anything major. There could have been an attempt on his life, but that wasn't really likely; the minister was beloved nowadays.

He changed into his robes within two minutes of getting the message. Draco quickly went to Scorpius' room; his son would have to spend the night in the children's area of the hospital; it wasn't the first time he'd had to sleep there, though Draco knew he didn't like it much. Still, Scorpius hardly stirred when Draco took him out of bed. He just curled into Draco's chest, and Draco was careful to rub his back gently to give him a bit of comfort before he apparated.

He landed in the children's area and quickly passed his son off to the wizard in the room. "If he wakes, tell him I'll come back as soon as I can."

"Of course, Healer Malfoy." the wizard said, nodding and getting Scorpius laid down on one of the beds that were pulled out at night.

Draco nodded and sighed heavily before rushing out of the room. The sooner he helped his patient, the sooner he could take Scorpius home and get them both back to bed. He knew exactly where to go, high profile patients were always taken to the same room and Draco had been there more than once. Hell, he'd been there with Hermione Granger not too long ago when she'd been splinched. When he opened the door to the room and saw who was inside, he stopped and stared.

He remembered Scorpius' birth in extreme detail. Astoria had been whisked away and he hadn't been allowed to follow her. Instead he'd been led to the waiting area, where he'd been greeted by the sight of a sea of red hair. He recognized the Weasleys immediately, and tried to sit as far away from them as possible. He had watched them though, because he had nothing else to do other than worry about Astoria, and worrying wasn't going to make him feel okay. He had already been worried about being a father, he didn't need to worry about the birth itself. So he'd watched the Weasleys. He'd seen Harry Potter mixed into the group along with a little boy with bright blue hair. Draco had seen Harry Potter's wife too, which meant she wasn't the one injured. In fact the only people who appeared to be missing were Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Draco had known that she'd been pregnant; it had been all over the Daily Prophet.

He remembered sitting alone, wishing he had a mass of people around him like the Weasleys so he could at least talk to someone and not dwell on how worried he felt. Then he'd noticed Ron Weasley come into the room, a shocked expression on his face. Draco turned his head to pay attention, curiosity breaking through his worry for a moment. He remembered hearing the red haired man say, "Stillborn. She's...We named her Rose. And she's...she's dead." He remembered watching him crumble. Soon after that a healer had come out to tell him that his wife had given birth to a healthy baby boy, and that they were both doing well. He left the waiting area, wondering if he should offer condolences before deciding that he would only make the situation worse. There had been a tormented scream as he'd gone back to see Astoria, and Draco recognized the scream almost immediately. It had been burned into his memory all those years ago in his family's manor; he'd never forgotten the sound of a tortured Hermione Granger.

Staring at her now, bleeding and still on a hospital bed, made him wonder if she'd let out of a tormented scream. He wondered if whatever pain she was in now was as bad as it had been at the manor, or when she'd given birth to a stillborn little girl.

"Malfoy!" someone barked. He looked toward his superior and then back to the woman on the bed before jumping into action.

"Tell me what happened," he said, looking toward the trainee he trusted the most. That wasn't very much, but it was enough that the girl could competently tell him what had happened to Hermione Granger.

"She was brought in by her husband a few minutes; he said she was hit by a car during a fight. There's an obvious head injury, broken bones, and vaginal spotting."

Draco nodded and went to her head, performing a tricky charm that would tell him what was wrong. His superior was working on healing the broken bones, and Draco was confident she would be okay. After all, he'd seen worse injuries that people had come back from. And Hermione Granger, he knew, was tougher than most people to begin with. It was only then that he froze. His eyes slowly went to the trainee, who was helping set bones for Davies. "Did you say vaginal spotting?"

The trainee looked at him, confusion in her eyes. "Yes, Sir, she had some contusions so I don't think it's anything too major."

"Davies," he said urgently, "Run a pregnancy test. A spell or something; get it done _now_."

"Malfoy you don't think-" the older woman said, straightening up slightly.

"It could be nothing. But I'll be damned if I'm the reason Hermione Granger loses a second baby. Do the test."

It took two minutes for them to know anything of use. As soon as they knew the truth, the strain of the situation got at least ten times worse. Davies barked orders and Draco did exactly as she said. It took time, and he felt somewhat nervous throughout the healing process, but eventually they'd treated everything they could. She was still unconscious, but Draco knew that would wear off within the next few hours. She'd be okay, and in the meantime, he could go to the children's area and just hold his son for a few minutes. Scorpius would remind him that everything was okay; Scorpius always did, and Draco was eternally grateful that he had his son.

He went to the children's area and picked up his son, pulling the small, tired boy into his lap and rubbing his back again. Scorpius cuddled into him, and Draco put his head back against the wall and let out a long sigh. It was fine; everything was going to be fine. They'd saved Hermione Granger and her baby, and everything was going to be fine.

After a few minutes he stood and apparated to Blaise's house. His friend appeared in the room after a moment, wand aimed at Draco's head, though he eventually dropped it and let out a sigh of relief. "It's nearly one in the morning, Malfoy, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Can you take him?" Draco asked, fighting a yawn. "I got called into work and I can't leave him there all night and all day."

"Can't they give you one night off?" Blaise grumbled. "You work all the time."

"That happens when you're the best," Draco said, making himself grin at his friend. "Please, Blaise? I have to get back."

"What, did some witch fall off a broom?" Blaise asked cheekily. "That's what ' _the bes_ t' deals with?"

"Hermione Granger got hit with a car. I just saved her life, if you're curious, and I need to be there when she wakes up to discuss her condition with her." Draco said, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Well shit," Blaise muttered. "Good on you, Draco. I'm honestly surprised you saved her life."

"I'm a healer," Draco said indignantly. "It's what I do."

"I'll take him," Blaise said, reaching out for Scorpius. Draco handed his son over, sighing as he did. "I'll tell him you had to go to work and that he can play with Olivia all day tomorrow, in case he wakes up. Any idea when you'll be back for him?"

"Tomorrow afternoon," Draco said. "I'm off at four."

"Maybe you can let him stay an extra day?" Blaise asked. "You could use a night off. Maybe you could sleep more than a few hours."

"I'm fine," Draco said stubbornly. "Just tonight and tomorrow, that's all I need. I'll be back a little after four, I swear. I've got to go now though, so just...take care of him."

He left before Blaise could respond. He didn't need to be chastised by Blaise Zabini, especially not when he had work to do. Technically he wasn't supposed to come in until six in the morning, but he knows there's work he can do and people he can help. Besides, he hadn't been lying when he told Blaise he wanted to be there when Hermione Granger woke up. He wanted to be the one to tell her that he'd saved her baby, and that she would be okay. She'd helped him once, and he'd never returned the favor, but now he had. Now he was going to be even with her and he wouldn't feel quite as guilty every time he saw her.

It was around five that morning when she finally woke up. He got word from the trainee and made his way down to the room she'd been moved into, seeing that Ron Weasley as well as Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were occupying the chairs around the bed. Ron Weasley glared at Draco when he entered, but Ginny and Harry both sent him small smiles. He was surprised by that, though he nodded at them before finally speaking. "I'm-"

"I'd like to request another healer," Ron Weasley said, interrupting Draco almost immediately. "We don't need you here to tell us when there are better ones out there."

"Ronald," Hermione Granger snapped. She sounded as tired as she looked. "I've asked you to leave six times. I don't want you here."

Draco frowned, confused, though his confusion quickly switched to anger as someone shoved him to the side. He found himself glaring at a petite woman with dark hair. "Ron? Ronny! Oh thank _Merlin_ you're okay; I heard there was an accident and I came running. Are you okay?"

Draco didn't know the woman, but he could tell from the faces of his former classmates that she was not welcome in the room. "I told you to leave me alone," Weasley said, his ears turning red. "I'm with my _wife_ -"

"You told me you were going to leave her a week ago," the woman said, pouting. " _Ronny_ , I love you more than she ever could. Why can't you just-"

" _Get out_ ," Draco recognized the dangerous voice of Hermione Granger. He'd heard it before, when she'd punched him during their time at Hogwarts. "Ron, Vanessa, if you don't leave my sight in the next _five seconds_ -"

"Come on, Mate," Potter said, finally speaking up. "Ron, just go. Now's not the time for this. We'll talk to you later."

Draco watched as Ron Weasley stood still, fury all over his face, before he turned and left the room. The woman followed him immediately. Draco took their leave as an excuse to shut the door behind him. He turned to his patient once again and saw her shaking her head slightly, a disgusted expression on her face. Draco cleared his throat then, and the three people in the room looked at him again. "Thank you," Potter said. "For helping her; that Davies woman said you're the one who really swooped in and saved the day."

"It's my job," Draco said, his voice firm and bored. He was grateful for the kind words, but he didn't need to show that to them. "I wanted to come and inform you, Granger, that you and the baby are perfectly safe. There might be some complications from the head injury, but I believe you should be fine in all other aspects."

He wanted to leave. He noticed Potter and his wife exchange a quick look, their eyes wide and shocked. He looked to Hermione Granger then, and saw nothing but despair on her face. "...the what?"

He felt himself flush. Had she not known? Had she not realized that she was pregnant. Draco cleared his throat again and said, "The baby. You're...You're pregnant. As far as we can tell, you're only a couple of weeks along, five at the most, though I'd say it's closer to four."

"Four…" she whispered, her face quickly paling. "...four weeks _pregnant_ …"

There was a moment of silence, and then she promptly threw up over the side of the bed and began sobbing. Draco, unsure of what to do, stood awkwardly in the corner until he decided he'd best leave the room and let her process what had apparently come as a large shock.


	7. Chapter Seven

Once the panic cleared her mind, Hermione sat quietly on her bed in St. Mungos, wondering what she could do. She was still going to leave Ron; there wasn't a doubt in her mind that she needed to leave him. His mistress had shown up to the _hospital_ for Merlin's sake, probably because Ron hadn't told her their relationship was off because he wanted to be in a relationship with someone. Hermione wouldn't put it past him; he loved having people around, he always had, and he probably wanted someone to love him in case anything went wrong.

Harry and Ginny were sitting next to her. Ginny had dozed off around half past four that morning. Harry was still awake though, and holding her hand. Hermione was incredibly grateful for him being there. Her own hands were shaking, which she was slightly afraid of, but at least Harry was there and he helped her feel like everything wasn't going wrong.

"Harry I can't do this," Hermione whispered after a few minutes of silence. "I...I'm sorry. I can't do this. I can't go through this again just to have it...to have it end up like Rose. I can't go through that again."

She heard him sigh softly before he started to speak. "I know it's not easy," Harry said. "Believe me, I know. I was with you for a week after you lost Rose. I know how bad it got. But...But this isn't guaranteed to end up that way, Hermione. This baby could come out perfectly healthy, and you could get to be a mother. You want that, I know you do, and you'd be excellent at being a mother. I mean...Look at how well you do with the boys. You're amazing with kids. You'll be an excellent mother."

"And if I lose it?" Hermione asked, scared to think of the life inside her as an actual person. "Harry, what if I lose this one too? What if...What if I carry to term again and when I go into labor, my baby comes out already...already _dead_. What if…" She took a shaky breath and said, "I can't do it. I can't do it."

Hermione felt tears start to fall down her cheeks again. Harry climbed on to the bed next to her and pulled her in for a hug. "What are you going to do?" he asked softly.

"I don't exactly have a lot of options," Hermione mumbled, staring at the blankets on the bed. "I really don't have a lot of options. I...I don't know what to do."

"You'll figure it out," Harry said with a slight smile. "You're the brightest witch of our age, remember? You can figure anything out."

Hermione sighed heavily before she realized something terrible. "I have to tell Ron."

"That's probably a good idea," Harry said, "considering it is technically his."

"He's going to want to stay together," Hermione groaned. "He's going to want to work through our problems and he'll want me to forgive him."

"And what do you want?"

"I want to hit him. I want...Harry, I want to get a divorce. I want to divorce Ron."

"I'm not really surprised," Harry said. "I would have thought that you'd say that a week ago, but at least you said it now."

"You want me to leave Ron?" Hermione asked, shocked.

He sighed heavily and furrowed his brow. "You two...You were good, for a while. But...After Rose, you drifted apart, we could all see it. It's hard to lose a baby like that, we all understood. But...It was like most of the love you had disappeared. Neither of you are really happy anymore. I just want to see my two best friends happy again. Ron shouldn't have cheated on you, that's always going to be wrong. But I'm glad something happened that prompted you two to...well, separate. You should get to be happy, Hermione."

"Merlin you're a sap," Hermione mumbled, though she had a small smile on her face. "I thought you'd be mad at me for wanting a divorce."

"No," Harry said. "I'm just glad that you're going to be okay. You will be okay, you know. We'll help you, Gin and I."

"I know," Hermione said. "I...I need to think about what to do with this." She gestured to her stomach then. Part of her couldn't help but feel excited, but it was a small part and it was quickly shrinking the more she remembered Rose. She'd been so excited when she'd found out about Rose. She and Ron had wanted a family, and it had finally happened. Her pregnancy had gone smoothly as well. She hadn't ever gotten too sick, she had felt Rose kick every day, and it had been absolutely amazing. She'd felt so close to her daughter without ever really knowing her. And then she'd gone into labor; she'd thought everything was fine. But she didn't know any better. She didn't know that Rose was already gone. She still didn't know exactly how it happened; the healers hadn't been able to explain it. Hermione had gone home without her daughter to an empty nursery, painted light pink just like her own had been when she was a baby.

Hermione fell asleep thinking about Rose, which makes her cry in her sleep. When she wakes up next, Harry had returned to his chair next to Ginny and pulled her close. Hermione's heart ached; she wanted that again, but Harry was right. She'd drifted from Ron. While she would always love him, she didn't want him to be the one to make her feel better. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't the only one awake in the room though. After a moment, she became aware that Draco Malfoy had been standing on the other side of the bed, using spells to check and see how she was doing.

"Thank you," Hermione said, startling him. She noticed that he looked tired and wondered if he'd been woken up to heal her. "For helping me."

"It's my job," he said gruffly. "I'm supposed to heal people, it's what I do."

"Still," Hermione said. "You helped me, and I appreciate that."

"Do try not to get hit by any more cars any time soon," he muttered. "It's bad for a fetus."

"Are you completely sure there's actually something in there?" Hermione asked, her mind hoping that it had all been a mistake. "Four weeks, it's just...It's really early, to know I mean. The last time I didn't find out until week seven."

He nodded slightly and said, "It is early, but I'm sure."

"How did you know to check?" she asked. "I didn't even know."

"You had three main injuries when you came in tonight," he said. Hermione noticed how professional he sounded; he was using a healer voice to talk to her. "Your head, broken bones, and…" he paused then, his face turning slightly pink. "...vaginal spotting. Most of the time I'd just assume it was the beginning of menstruation, but given the injuries you sustained and you history, I thought it was a good idea to check. We used an early detection spell-the best one, if you ask me. Four weeks is the earliest it can tell, but it's usually very reliable. Your test was positive when we got it back."

Hermione nodded slightly. It made sense, but she didn't like it. "What...What are my options if I don't...If I decide not to have this baby?" He just stared at her, and Hermione felt self-conscious. "I...I can't...I wouldn't be able to handle it if this one...if this time resulted in a stillbirth too. I...I just can't."

"You want to terminate the thing I just saved?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes and said, "I want to save myself from giving birth to another dead baby, Malfoy. I want to save my family from feeling that pain again."

"Granger-"

"I'll go to a muggle doctor," Hermione muttered, turning away from him. "They'll be better at it anyway."

There was a thick silence for a couple of minutes then. Hermione felt like she was going to cry, and for some reason Draco Malfoy was still standing next to her and casting spells to see how she was doing. Finally, though, he broke the silence. "What happened with Weasley?"

"I fail to see how that's any of your business." Hermione snapped.

"He cheated on you, is that right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hermione clenched her hands into fists and muttered, "Yes. And I'm leaving him."

"Good," he said. Hermione stared at him in shock. "People shouldn't cheat," he gave as an explanation. "You should rest. It's been a long day full of trauma, rest will serve you well."

He turned to leave then, and Hermione just watched him as he did. He was different; Draco Malfoy had actually changed after Hogwarts, and it seemed he'd changed for the better. He was still infuriating, but he wasn't a completely terrible person like before. Hermione shook her head, expelling the thoughts from her mind as she settled into a pillow. Her healer had ordered rest, and she was going to take it.

When she woke next it was a decent time in the morning, and Hermione was pleased to find that Harry was still there with her. Ginny, he explained, had gone back to her mother's to pick up the boys and would bring them by around lunch to see her, if she was still in St. Mungos then. Hermione nodded as she listened, but she was really just glad that Harry had stayed so she had a friend with her.

"Is Ron here?" Hermione asked eventually, dreading the upcoming conversation. "I need to speak with him."

Harry nodded and said, "He's been in the waiting area all night. I'll go get him."

He was back only two minutes later, Ron in tow. Her husband looked apologetic, but Hermione beat him to words. "According to my healer," she said slowly, "I'm pregnant."

Ron's face lit up. "Pregnant? Hermione that's-Merlin, that's fantastic! We can do this together; we can go to appointments together and be a family and-"

"I still want a divorce," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "You cheated, and I can't be with someone I don't trust. I'm...I'm not sure I'm going to even have this baby. If...If everything works out then obviously you'll be a father, but we'll co-parent. We'll make it work. But I'm not going to stay with you."

His face fell. "But… Hermione, we have to stay together. You...You're going to need help, and who else is going to do it?"

Harry cleared his throat. "She's going to stay with us until she can find somewhere else. And even when she does, Ginny and I will take care of her."

"Harry-"

"I'm not on your side with this, Ron," Harry said firmly. "Hermione's being perfectly reasonable. You're the one that did wrong."

"But-"

"That's how it's going to be," Hermione said. "Ron, if everything works out, I need us to be amicable. You're still one of my best friends, you always will be. Can...Can you promise me that we'll stay friends? Please?"

He was silent for a minute. Then he slowly started nodding. "We were a bit of a disaster these last few years," he said eventually. "But we'll be friends. I don't want you out of my life."

"And I don't want you out of mine," Hermione said, feeling like a weight has lifted off her chest. "Ron, I'm...I'm so relieved. Thank you."

He hugged her, and Hermione let out a breath of relief. He probably wasn't too happy with what had just happened, but he was trying to be nice and she was grateful for his effort. "So, what's our next step?"

"We'll need lawyers," Hermione said. "We had a muggle wedding so my extended family could attend and not know that anything was different. We need lawyers, we'll divide our things, sign the papers, and...and just go back to being friends."

Ron nodded slowly once again. "Okay," he said, though he didn't sound very happy. "Okay. I...I should head into work now, Hermione, but we can talk everything through later. Maybe I can drop by the house, Harry?"

"That would be good," Harry said. "You can see the boys; they miss their uncle."

Ron smiled slightly. "At least I haven't ruined everything, yeah?" he asked. He left then, and Hermione looked at Harry in surprise.

"That...That went surprisingly well."

"I did," Harry said. "Hopefully it keeps going that well."


	8. Chapter Eight

Draco felt like he was dead on his feet by the end of his shift at St. Mungos. It was half past three and he was stuck behind a desk, writing down notes for different patients and rubbing his face with his hands. He'd had at least three cups of coffee that day, and Davies had gotten worried and tried to send him home from work. Draco had snapped at her and told her that he was perfectly fine. He was going to work until he'd been scheduled to leave, and then he would go get Scorpius and stay up for another four or five hours playing with his son. Then he'd lay awake, trying to fall asleep, and get up after only a few hours and do the whole thing again the next day.

Sometimes he wondered why he'd gone into the medical field. He didn't like people that much, and the job was exhausting. But deep down he knew the truth; he became a healer to try and make up for all of the bad things he'd done as a teenager. Maybe if he saved enough people, others would stop thinking he was evil and they wouldn't assume his son was evil too. So he'd continue to be a healer, trying to make up for everything, until he could go out and not see a glare from someone.

"Malfoy," Davies said, approaching him again. Draco turned to glare at her, irritated at being disturbed. He'd just gotten up from the desk to go around and check on his patients again, and now she wanted something else from him. "Why don't you let me handle the rest of your patients this week. You've been working on a lot of things lately, you've got your son at home. If you need some time off, just take it."

"I don't need any bloody time off," Draco said furiously. "If I don't work, I don't have food to put on the table for my son. I don't earn any respect that he can play off of. Bloody hell, Davies, just let me do my bloody job."

"You have plenty of money to take a week's vacation," Davies said firmly. "I'm the one that pays you, Malfoy, don't forget that. And you have savings-"

"I'm not touching that money," he said. "That's for my son in case anything happens to me; it's so that he never has to struggle in his life and he can have whatever he wants."

"You have your parents." Davies challenged.

Draco knew she was just trying to help him find solutions. He knew that single parents like himself needed help because it was hard to care for a child while being the only one to parent and work. But he wasn't about to go to his parents and ask for money. He didn't really need it, he could manage fine, but part of what enabled him to manage was working as often as he did. "I'm not going to them. I see my mother once a month for tea, and I see my father four times a year on birthdays. I don't want anything to do with him, and I don't want my mother to worry. I am fine, Davies. Stop worrying and let me finish what I have to do."

Davies held her hands up in defeat and said, "Go to work. But you'll take a vacation-a week off-within the next three months or I'll put you on probation and make you take the vacation. Do I make myself clear?"

"Seriously-"

"Yes," Davies said. "I am completely serious. Now get to work, Malfoy, do I have to tell you that?" She smiled at him, and Draco shook his head, a smile threatening to show on his own face. Davies could be ridiculous at times, but she did care about all of them. He was really grateful that she was his superior and not someone else, because other people wouldn't care nearly as much as her.

He'd sent Hermione Granger home around noon that day, and he was glad he didn't have to go and check up on her. She infuriated him at the best of times, and he wasn't comfortable having her whole clan of people around him for more than twenty minutes at a time. They'd been there for hours and he'd been stuck seeing Weasley and Potter for hours. He still had other patients though, and they took up the rest of his shift.

When he finally got off, Draco decided to rush home. He wanted to get to Scorpius and apologize for having to go to work the previous night. He wanted his son to forgive him and promise that he wasn't too angry. Draco adored his son and he always wanted his approval.

He apparated to Blaise's house for the second day in a row. He found Blaise and the two kids sitting in the kitchen, coloring pictures and laughing as they ate popcorn. Draco smiled slightly when he saw the scene, his heart aching. Scorpius was always so happy around Olivia and Blaise. More than once Draco had wondered if he was really doing right by his son by keeping him home. He wondered if he was just being selfish by keeping his son with him.

But all of those doubts were erased from his mind when Scorpius looked up and saw him. His son's face lit up and he scrambled off his chair, running as quickly as possible to Draco. Draco bent down to pick up his son and hugged him tightly. "Daddy!" Scorpius shouted in his ear. "Daddy you came back!"

"I always come back," Draco said, hugging him tightly. "Don't I always come back?"

Scorpius nodded and smiled widely at Draco. "You do," he said. "But Daddy can we go home? I'm tired."

Draco grinned and said, "Daddy's tired too. We can watch one of the movie's Mummy got for you, does that sound fun? Then if we fall asleep, we fall asleep."

Scorpius nodded. "Thanks, Daddy."

"Of course. Now how about you say goodbye to Blaise and Olivia, and we'll head home."

Draco set his son down and watched as he ran around to give hugs to their friends. He grabbed the picture he'd been drawing too, for Draco to hang up in their house, before running back to Draco and grabbing his hand. "Thank you for watching him." Draco said, looking to Blaise and nodding slightly.

Blaise nodded back and said, "It's my pleasure. We'll see you on the weekend, okay? For the trip to the aquarium."

Draco nodded; he'd almost forgotten about that. He had the afternoon off and was going to look at fish because it would please his son and his goddaughter. "Right; we'll see you then. Come on, Scorpius. We'll take the bus home; I know how much you like riding it."

Scorpius giggled and cheered. They left the house and almost a moment later the bus appeared before them. Draco followed his son to their favorite seats, which were almost always empty because they were located at the front of the bus. People didn't tend to like sitting there, but it made Scorpius happy because he would watch the driver.

He listened to Scorpius talk about the day, his stories occasionally interrupted by a yawn. Draco wondered if he'd gotten woken up the previous night, which made him feel slightly guilty because it was his fault the night had been so hectic. His son trailed off after a while and Draco just put an arm around him, wondering if he had drifted off to sleep. Scorpius made a few sounds every now and then though, and Draco quickly realized that he was just looking around the bus and watching people.

"Daddy," Scorpius whispered after a few minutes. "Daddy it's the sad lady from yesterday."

Draco looked around immediately, feeling shocked and confused. He'd sent Hermione Granger home that day with Harry Potter and strict instructions to take it easy for the rest of the week. She'd been hit by a car not even twenty-four hours ago; why was she out on the bus? "Scorpius, can you stay right here?" Draco asked.

"Are you going to talk to the sad lady?"

"Just for a minute, yes. I need you to stay right here and not move." Scorpius nodded dutifully, so Draco quickly got out of his seat and walked over to Hermione Granger. She was only a few seats away, but Draco kept an eye on his son the entire time. He could see Scorpius staring at him, a slight smile on his face.

"Oh, hello," Granger said, noticing him as he came over. "Can I help you with something?"

"What are you doing out and about?" he asked, his voice hard with a bit of worry slipping through the cracks. He might be slightly concerned because if she provoked one of her injuries, they could have a bigger problem.

"I just wanted to think," she said. "I hate the Knight Bus, but at least there's no risk of getting splinched, and that was unpleasant."

"You should be resting at home," Draco said. He felt awkward, approaching her on the bus. He felt awkward even talking to her, but she was technically his patient and he wanted to make sure she wasn't going to be injured. "You shouldn't be riding the bus."

"I am an adult, you know," she said, starting to sound slightly irritated. "I can do whatever I want."

"I'm your healer and I told you to go home and rest."

"I'm an _adult_ who doesn't have to listen to people if I don't want to."

"Granger-"

"What, Malfoy?"

"Daddy," Scorpius said, making Draco jump. "Why-"

"I thought I told you to stay in your seat," Draco said, trying not to look like he was too freaked out by his son's appearance, or the fact that he'd stopped watching closely enough to know what was happening. "Scorpius, please go sit down."

"The sad lady's all by herself," Scorpius said stubbornly. "Daddy, she should come watch the movie with us! We can eat dinner together and it would be fun!"

"Scorpius-"

"Miss Sad Lady, you should come home. We can play a game too, games make people happy."

Draco raised his eyebrows, surprised that his son was completely ignoring him. "Oh, that's really nice of you Sweetheart, but I wouldn't want to impose," Granger said. "Besides, I'm sure you'd love to spend some nice time with your Dad, right?"

"I see Daddy every day," Scorpius said. Draco's eyebrows raised further. "Please come home and play a game?"

She looked to Draco then, unsure of herself which felt odd for him to see. "It's so sweet of you to offer, but-"

"Daddy, please tell her to come?" Scorpius whined, pulling on Draco's sleeve to try and convince him.

"I...Scorpius, you can't just ask random people to come home with you."

"But _Daddy_ -"

Draco stared helplessly at his son, who was pouting and biting his lip. "I...If you _wanted_ to...We weren't going to do anything special, I…"

"Are you inviting me to your house for dinner?" she asked, looking about as shocked as he felt.

"I don't have much of a choice." Draco muttered, nodding to his son who was bouncing on his toes and grinning at Granger.

"Please? Pretty please?" Scorpius asked, looking at both of them with wide eyes.

"I...I mean I can't say no to that face. But I shouldn't stay long, okay Sweetheart? Just for a little bit."

Scorpius nodded and sent her a wide smile. Draco shook his head in disbelief, utterly shocked at the turn his evening had taken. He was going to watch and probably fall asleep to a children's movie with his son, and now he was going to entertain Hermione Granger for dinner. If Astoria saw him, she'd be shocked and completely ecstatic. She'd think he was growing as a person. And maybe he was; ten years ago he never would have considered inviting Granger into his home. He never would have even let Scorpius speak to her. But maybe he was becoming a better person; maybe being a father made him a better person. Not just a father to anyone; he wasn't sure he would be a good person if Scorpius wasn't his son. Scorpius was kind and perfect, in Draco's opinion, and he had to be the reason Draco wasn't quite as bad as he used to be.


	9. Chapter Nine

If it weren't for Scorpius Malfoy, Hermione could have had a very awkward evening. Then again, if it weren't for Scorpius Malfoy, Hermione probably never would have been at Draco Malfoy's house, sitting down to dinner and a few games before the young boy was ushered off to bed for falling asleep at the kitchen table.

She was shocked by how ordinary the house was. When they'd first arrived, she'd been confident there was some kind of charm on it that made it appear smaller than it actually was. She had been inside Malfoy Manor, when Draco Malfoy still lived there, and that home had been enormous. Hermione was convinced that he wouldn't function living inside anything smaller than the manor he'd grown up in. But when she walked inside, she realized that there was no charm on it; the house was about the size of her own, a decent sized one for the area they were in, but nothing too extravagant.

The second thing she'd noticed was the massive amount of pictures lining the walls. In reality it wasn't actually that many, but it was enough that Hermione took notice of it and found herself staring at them. They were obviously the artwork of a child, but that didn't surprise her considering Draco Malfoy had a son who was almost four years old. What surprised her was the fact that he'd bothered to hang them up where people could actually see them. She'd never pegged him for the type of person who would display children's art, but she'd been wrong. "We don't have many visitors," Draco said, using a quick spell to clear the room of any extra mess. "I...Suppose I'll start dinner then. Scorpius, we're having chicken, remember?"

Scorpius nodded happily. "Mmhmm. Daddy, can I show Miss Sad Lady my room with my toys?" he asked excitedly.

"Miss Sad Lady has a name, you know," Draco said, shaking his head slightly. "She's your friend, Scorpius, do whatever you want. But be careful with her; she was hurt last night and I don't need her getting hurt again."

Scorpius nodded dutifully before turning to look at Hermione and giving her a toothy grin. "Do you wanna see my room?" Scorpius asked, and the excitement on his face reminded Hermione of her nephews. She could never say no to them, and she was starting to think she wouldn't really be able to say no to Scorpius Malfoy either.

"Sure," Hermione said. "You'll have to show me your favorite toys, and your favorite book too."

"I can do that!" he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up a small flight of stairs and into a modestly sized room. The walls were painted a light blue, the floor was covered in easy puzzles, books, and toys. Atop the small dresser was a picture of Astoria Malfoy, smiling happily and waving every time her son came into view. "This is my favorite toy," Scorpius said, drawing her attention back to him. He was holding up a box of crayons. "I make pictures and Daddy puts them on the walls. He says I'm really good at coloring."

"You know," Hermione said, "I saw some of your pictures downstairs. I think he's right; you are very good at coloring."

Scorpius beamed at her, his smile warming her heart. "Thanks! Oh-Daddy said you had a name. What's your name? You know mine, I'm Scorpius."

"I do know yours," Hermione said. "Mine can be a bit tricky. I'm Hermione, but my nephews just call me 'Mione, and you can too, if you'd like."

His smile stayed glued to his face. "Will you be my friend, Miss 'Mione? I don't have lots of friends."

"I'd be honored," Hermione said, finding the little boy incredibly endearing. He was polite, as she'd expected, but still so full of innocence and happiness that made Hermione find him adorable. "Do you know, I've just thought of a very good idea. What if we each color a picture for each other?"

He nodded happily and ran through the room, trying to find something to color on. He produced two sheets of plain white paper and handed one to her before settling down on the floor with his box of crayons. "You can lay down too," Scorpius said. "It's fun to color on the floor. Daddy says Mummy used to color on the floor with me, but I don't really remember."

Hermione nodded, unsure of what to say. She didn't know if Scorpius fully understood what had happened to his mother yet, and she didn't need to be the one to tell him. They spent a rather long amount of time on the floor in his bedroom, each working on coloring a piece of paper. Eventually, though, Hermione heard Draco Malfoy clear his throat from the doorway. "Dinner's ready, you two." he said, a smirk dancing across his lips.

"Daddy look at what I colored!" Scorpius said, jumping up and waving the picture at Draco. "It's a flower; I made it for Miss 'Mione."

"That was very nice of you," Hermione said, slowly getting off the floor and smiling at Scorpius. "I love flowers; how did you know?"

"I didn't," he giggled, holding the picture out to her. "But I like flowers too!"

Hermione smiled at him before taking the picture he was offering to her and giving him the one she'd been working on. "I made this one for you. It's a hippogriff, do you know what those are?"

Scorpius shook his head, his eyes wide. "I love it," he whispered. Hermione smiled slightly; she wasn't exactly talented at drawing, but apparently her picture had conveyed enough detail that Scorpius could get the gist of the creature. "Daddy can I have a hipp-a hippgriff?"

Draco stared at her in disbelief, and Hermione was suddenly hit with a memory from their third year of school, when he'd provoked Buckbeak and been injured. "Merlin's sake, Granger, are you trying to kill me?" Draco asked after telling Scorpius no and that he needed to go downstairs and wash up. "A bloody hippogriff?"

She grinned and shook her head. "I forgot, honestly. Though now that I remember the look on your face…"

She trailed off then, unsure of what else to say to him. They both shook their heads for a moment and then walked downstairs to the kitchen. Scorpius was already sitting in a chair and had pulled one next to him that he quickly directed Hermione to sit in. She obliged, trying to keep the little boy, and to an extent his father, happy with her. She was a guest in their home and it was important that she didn't upset them. More importantly, Scorpius was still a little boy and he didn't need a bad experience to come from a time he'd tried to be nice.

The meal was surprisingly tasty considering it was Draco Malfoy who'd prepared it. Hermione had never thought about the fact that he might be a good cook, as he'd always had house elves to do it for him. After, Scorpius insisted they play a game. Draco Malfoy obliged, and Hermione was starting to get the sense that he could be a bit of a pushover when it came to his son. She didn't mind though, because if she wasn't playing a game with the Malfoys, she'd be playing one with the Potters.

They played a card game designed for children; Scorpius was still learning how to read and recognize letters and numbers. Sometimes he needed help to make sure he got the number right, but Hermione was pleased to see that he was doing really well. It seemed that Scorpius would be just as smart as his father had been, though she could be biased because she thought the little boy was sweet.

Her evening was actually pleasant, a fact that surprised her. She was with Draco Malfoy and she'd had a pleasant evening. A small part of her mind warned her that she was probably going insane, but the rest of it shut the thought up almost immediately. Hermione rolled up her sleeves as she tried to help Scorpius with his cards-the more tired he got, the more he struggled-and felt glad that Scorpius had chosen her to help him instead of his father. As she pointed out the difference between the six and the nine, Scorpius put his small hand on her arm. "Miss 'Mione, why do you have that word on you?" he asked, yawning in the middle of his sentence. "Daddy says that's a bad word."

"Hmm?" Hermione asked, glancing down at her own arm. She'd become so used to the word carved into it that she hardly even noticed it anymore. "Oh, that's...just a bad memory of another time," she said, pushing her sleeve back down. "Now, can you tell me which card is a nine?"

He nodded and pointed to one, and then said, "But why's it on your arm?"

"Scorpius," Draco Malfoy said then, sounding slightly stern. "That's not a nice thing to ask."

"I'm sorry." Scorpius mumbled, looking ashamed of himself.

"It's okay," Hermione said. "It's a curious thing; everyone asks about it at first. Now how about that six?"

They focused on the game once again, and Hermione felt a bit relieved. She didn't notice the word on her arm, but every time it was brought to her attention she remembered the event that had caused it. And she was in the presence of someone who'd been there when it happened, which made her feel a bit more nervous than usual. But focusing on the game meant she didn't have to think about what she'd endured.

Halfway through the second round of that particular game, Hermione realized that Scorpius had fallen asleep on her arm. He curled up on his chair with his head on her. "I think he's out." Hermione said quietly, looking at Draco Malfoy.

He looked up at his son then and smiled slightly. "You're right, he is. Here, I'll get him in bed." he said, quickly getting up to scoop his son into his arms and whisking him away.

Hermione sat quietly at the table for a moment, unsure of what to do, though she did start cleaning up the cards from the game and the glasses from the drinks they'd had while playing. She wasn't quite sure what to do with them, so she stood in the kitchen and used her wand to wash them. After that she wasn't sure what to do, so she collected her bag and waited near the front door. She needed to thank Draco Malfoy for having her over, and then she could return to Harry's house and discuss the odd turn her night had taken.

He came downstairs after a few minutes, and Hermione was struck by how tired he looked. "Thank you for having me," she said, "I know you probably didn't want to. Your son is amazing, by the way. He's very sweet."

"He takes after his mother," Draco said, shrugging slightly. "You should rest, Granger. You've been through trauma recently and I don't want you to get worse again."

"I'm fine," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. Maybe it was just the fact that he was a healer now, but it almost sounded like he was worried about her. "Thank you for helping me, but I'm fine. I'll stay out of your hair from now on—and avoid taking the Knight Bus, it seems."

"That would be excellent," he said, sounding relieved. "Though you'll have to send Scorpius a drawing or something every now and then; he's absolutely taken with you."

Hermione grinned and said, "I have a way with kids, I suppose. Goodnight, Malfoy."

"Likewise." he said, opening the door for her.

Hermione left the house and raised her wand to summon the Knight Bus. After a moment of standing, however, she decided she really wanted to get back to the house and just sit down for a while, so she apparated. She didn't splinch herself, she hadn't ever expected to, but she'd still been slightly scared of it. She landed outside the front door of Harry's house and let herself in. When she walked into the kitchen, she found Ginny and Harry sitting at the table, talking in hushed tones. They were talking about her, she could hear. They were worried about her and they wanted her to be okay. They were scared.

"I'll be okay, you know," Hermione said, interrupting their conversation. "I…I can handle this. I spent a good hour riding on the Knight Bus tonight and I…I'm not going to do anything to terminate. I'm…I'm confident this won't work, but I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't try."

"Hermione," Ginny said, sending her a small, sad smile. "Hermione, we weren't worried about what you were going to do with the baby. We're just worried about you. We know you didn't want to be pregnant again; we know how hard losing Rose was for you."

"We just want to make sure you're okay," Harry said. "We love you and we want to make sure you're happy."

"I…I won't be, when things don't work out," Hermione said. "But I'll be okay. You don't have to worry about me."

"Can we worry about where you were all night?" Ginny asked, quickly changing the subject to something that she wanted to talk about. "You left the house around three, and if you rode the bus for an hour then you should have been back around four or maybe half past four at the latest. But it's—" she paused to check the time before continuing, "—almost nine. That's four and half, five hours unaccounted for."

Hermione raised an eyebrow as she watched her friend. "Are you my mother now, Ginny?"

"Just a concerned friend," Ginny said. "I know you're leaving Ron so you weren't with him. But who was it? Luna? Neville?"

"If you must know, I went home with Draco Malfoy."

Her friends just stared at her for a moment. Harry's mouth was hanging open slightly, shocked at her admission, and Ginny's eyebrows were raised as high as they could possibly go. "You went home with Draco _Malfoy_? From school?" Harry asked, finally finding his voice.

"You sly—" Ginny started to say, a grin coming over her face.

"Not like _that_ , Ginny, do I get any credit?" Hermione asked, smirking as Harry shuddered at his wife's implication. "I was on the bus and his son recognized me; he'd approached me yesterday, remember? Well he asked me to come back and play and eat with them, and neither of us could really tell him no. He's like a blond Albus, honestly, with how easily he gets people do to what he wants."

"And how was that? Awkward?"

"If he hadn't been there it would have been. Mostly I stayed with Scorpius, that's his name. We drew pictures and played a bit with his toys before eating. Malfoy is good at cooking; did you know that?"

"So you going to go after him?" Ginny asked immediately.

"Gin, it's been a week since she found out about Ron," Harry said, shocked. "She's only decided to leave him a day ago. Give her some time before you try and set her up maybe?"

"Harry—"

"He's right," Hermione said. "At least let me get divorced first, okay? And besides; _Malfoy_? Never going to happen."


	10. Chapter Ten

"Stay in sight!" Draco called out to his son and Blaise's daughter as they ran towards a display to look at freshwater fish. He sighed as they giggled and pointed different species out to each other; if someone had asked him five years ago to go to the aquarium, he would have hexed them for asking such a stupid question. But now he was wandering around looking at fish because Scorpius wanted to go and Draco wanted to make him happy. He'd do anything for his son, even if it found it to be incredibly boring.

He had received no less than four compliments on how cute his son was, which Draco found unnecessary. He didn't want to talk to people he didn't know, to start, and he already knew everything about his son and he didn't need people repeating facts to him. Still, he'd thanked each person that bothered to say it before he pulled Scorpius away to look at something else. Now he and Olivia were having fun without being held, and Draco was slightly relieved. People talked to him less when he wasn't actually next to his son; his scowl scared them off, or at least that's what Blaise had always told him.

His friend was currently laughing, which upset Draco as well. He'd told Blaise about having Hermione Granger over and how Scorpius had forced them both into it, and his friend had lost it. "I can't _believe_ ," Blaise said, still chuckling, "that you had a _date_ with _Hermione Granger_ -"

"It was _not_ a date," Draco said angrily. "Stop calling it that."

"I've been trying to set you up for six months and all it takes is Scorpius seeing Granger on the bus, and you're hooked?" Blaise asked, a cocky smirk on his face.

"It's been a year and a half since my wife died. Give me some time."

"Exactly," Blaise said, "it's been a year and a half and you haven't done anything. I know you love her, Mate, but she wouldn't want you to just sit around your entire life. You're twenty-nine. You've got a lot of time left."

"I'm focusing on my son," Draco said. "I'm not going to try and find a new wife when I need to focus on him."

"So find someone who likes your son." Blaise said as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"Yes, because every single witch our age wants to be stuck with a kid who isn't hers," Draco muttered, rolling his eyes. "Let it go, Zabini."

"Granger seems to like him well enough."

Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It was _one_ dinner. Drop it."

"I'm just saying, it's time."

"You know she's still technically married, right?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. "She hasn't fully left Weasley yet."

"So? Do you honestly think Weasley isn't still sleeping with that store girl? I'd bet a hundred galleons he is."

"Anyway, why aren't you with someone new yet?" Draco asked, hoping that the change of subject would shut his friend up. "It's been almost four years since your wife left you and Olivia."

"As if I need someone other than Olivia," Blaise said, rolling his eyes. "I don't fancy being my mother, Malfoy, I'm not going to parade women in front of my daughter like my mother paraded men in front of me."

"So find a good one?"

"You're a bastard, you know that right?" Blaise asked.

"Likewise." Draco said, glad his friend finally saw his point.

Blaise stayed quiet for a few moments. They watched their children look excitedly at different fish for a while. But Blaise couldn't stay quiet for long. "I always thought that you and Granger would end up together."

" _What_?" Draco said loudly, making a few mothers nearby turn to look at him disapprovingly. "You cannot be serious."

"No, I am. All of that sexual tension? I thought you'd at least get together if you didn't end up together. But let's be honest; you two were the smartest in our year and you were constantly competing with each other. I wasn't the only one who thought that."

"Seriously?"

"There was a bet going. Us and the Hufflepuffs, a few Ravenclaws too. I think it's still technically going; do you remember that Lovegood girl? She said it would happen in your thirties."

Draco shook his head in disbelief. "You're all insane," he muttered. "Completely insane."

Blaise grinned at him with a slight smile on his face. "Yeah, sure. But you should think about it."

"No," Draco said, narrowing his eyes slightly at his friend. "I'll pass."

Blaise shrugged slightly, his face a bit disappointed, and Draco rolled his eyes as he went back to watching Scorpius and Olivia. Blaise was absolutely insane if he thought that Hermione Granger would ever end up with a Malfoy. It wasn't like they'd ever gotten along, and Draco couldn't see that really changing any time soon. It was a ridiculous thought, and he quickly decided that he wouldn't entertain it anymore.

Once they'd wandered through the whole aquarium twice, Draco and Blaise finally managed to convince their children to leave. They'd promised ice cream and, seeing as it was the middle of June and uncharacteristically hot for London, the kids weren't the only ones excited for the treat. "Daddy how much longer until we're there?" Scorpius complained as they walked through the heat. Traffic was insane and trying to take the Knight Bus, as easily as it could slip between muggle cars, didn't feel like such a great idea. "Daddy I'm _tired_ and I want ice cream."

"We're almost there," Draco promised. "Just a few more minutes. But you'll only get ice cream if you're good; you will be good, won't you?"

Scorpius nodded slightly and then held out his arms. "Daddy…"

Draco sighed and stopped to pick Scorpius up. His son laid his head against Draco's shoulder and Draco couldn't help but smile slightly. He wished Astoria had gotten to see more moments like this; they would have made her happy. They made Draco happy too, because he knew that he wasn't being a terrible father that his son was afraid of. "Almost there, and then we can go home and rest for a bit." he promised softly, hurrying to catch up with Blaise and Olivia, who hadn't stopped to wait for them.

Scorpius nodded slightly and, by the time they arrived in the ice cream parlor, he'd fallen asleep. Draco had to maneuver him to get the treat, which he knew Scorpius would still want when he woke up. "Blaise," Draco said softly, "I'm going to get him home. Thank you for suggesting this; it actually wasn't a terrible day."

His friend just rolled his eyes and said, "Don't sound too excited. We'll see you later then?"

"At some point in time," Draco said, shrugging slightly. Olivia hugged his leg then, so Draco sent her a small smile and said, "It was nice to see you too, Olivia. Don't let your father get into too much trouble, okay?"

She laughed and hugged Blaise, who rolled his eyes at Draco before picking up his own daughter. Draco took the ice cream he'd gotten to go and left the store, quickly locating a small alley he could apparate in. Within moments they were home, and Draco was lying Scorpius down in bed for a nap. He made sure his son was tucked tightly into his bed, as that was how he was most comfortable, and then he went back downstairs to put away the ice cream and lie down himself. Just like his son, he was ready for some rest.

Draco was surprised when he woke an hour later without having been disturbed. He panicked slightly and hurried up to Scorpius' room, cracking the door open and finding that his son was still asleep. He let out a sigh of relief, because some small part of his mind had been convinced that Scorpius was hurt. But he was fine; tired, but fine. Draco shut the door again, feeling silly for worrying so much. But he was the only person to worry about his son, and he needed to make sure that his son would always be alright.

Draco went back downstairs and into the kitchen, using his wand to heat up water for tea. He sat down at the table with the cup in his hands, sighing heavily and trying to convince himself that he could stay awake until it was actually Scorpius' bedtime. That was only a few hours away; if he could just stay awake then he could have a really good night's rest. He had to work sixteen hours the next day, and for that he needed to actually be rested.

As he thought about his job he heard a knock at his door. Draco looked in the direction of the sound in confusion; he wasn't expecting guests, nor did he want to see anyone. If it was Blaise, he would just apparate inside. No one else came over enough to feel like they could just apparate inside. Draco grabbed his wand and held it tightly in his hand, worried that it was someone who would want to cause harm to him or Scorpius. He'd die to protect his son; he'd do anything he could to make sure Scorpius was safe.

"Who's there?" Draco asked, standing near the door. There was no answer, so he frowned deeply and walked closer, hoping that it wasn't anyone who would hurt his family. When he cracked the door open, he saw that it was. "What the hell do you want?" he asked, fury in his voice.

"Is that any way to speak to your father?" Lucius Malfoy asked. Draco's eyes narrowed as he opened the door a bit wider. "Are you going to let me in?"

"What do you want?"

"I can't just come over?"

Draco stared at the man, unsure of what to do. Had Astoria been alive, she would have slammed the door in his face and made Draco go back to the kitchen and drink tea while she made sure his father actually left. Draco loved the man, he couldn't just not love his own father, but that didn't mean he wanted to be around him. He'd made a life of his own and he didn't need his father to plant seeds of doubt in his mind, which is inevitably what his father would do. "No," Draco said. "You can't."

"Let me in, Draco," Lucius said, his voice losing all of the pleasant tone it had held. "We need to talk."

Draco stared a bit longer before sighing in defeat and opening the door wide enough so his father could come in. "I don't have much time, so you'll have to hurry."

"I'll take as long as I want," Lucius said. "Where is Scorpius?"

"Upstairs, sleeping," Draco said, folding his arms across his chest and trying to stay calm and confident. "I'd prefer if you didn't wake him up."

"Noted," his father said stiffly. "Sit down, Draco. There are things we need to discuss."

Draco sat obediently and then silently cursed himself for doing so. This was his house and he was sitting because his father had instructed him to. Where was his resolve? "What do you want to discuss?"

"We've let this little charade of yours go on long enough," Lucius said, to which Draco rolled his eyes. "You cannot continue to live in a neighborhood with muggles. You can't continue to associate with people beneath you. You can't teach Scorpius, my grandson, to love those people. You need to come home. We can set up a room for you both. You need to remember your principles."

"I know what my principles are," Draco muttered. "My neighbors leave Scorpius and I alone; they don't talk or ask unnecessary questions. And in case you haven't noticed, Father, those _principles_ you love so much nearly got you thrown into Azkaban. I'm not going to let Scorpius get thrown into prison."

His father scoffed and said, "You don't think there will be another uprising? That precious Potter won't be around to protect those...those blood traitors and mudbloods for long. You'll want to be on the right side when that happens."

"I don't want another side," Draco said stubbornly. "I heal people that get hurt. _That_ is my side."

"It's the wrong one," Lucius said. "Come home, Draco. Your mother misses you."

"She's free to come and have tea whenever she wants," Draco said, narrowing his eyes. "She chooses to come once a month. I've never said she can't come more."

"Do you honestly want her to come into a dangerous neighborhood like this?" his father asked. "You need to leave. At least live somewhere with other wizards."

"I like being close to work," Draco argued. "I'm not going to move, Father, and I'm not going to join your cause, if that's why you're here. If that's all, though, you're welcome to leave this _dangerous_ neighborhood."

His father rose from his chair, looking disappointed and angry. "You're choosing wrong, Draco. One of these days you'll realize it."

He disappeared with a crack and Draco sighed heavily. He wasn't going to pick a side; he wanted to stay as far away from conflict as he could. After all, he had a son to look out for.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Hermione groaned slightly as she woke up. She was exhausted, because she worked tirelessly to insure that her department would be okay once she left. Her last day at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures was only a week away now, and she wanted to make sure that her work would continue and that the house elves she'd worked so hard would be cared for. It was Harry's fault that she was leaving; a position had opened up in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and he'd encouraged her to apply and then accept the job once it had been offered to her. She wasn't going to be an auror; she was going to fight to make sure that laws were fair. The idea had intrigued her for a long time, and she really was excited to get started. But first, she had to make sure her current coworkers would be okay with her gone.

As per usual she was known as bossy, but in her department that just meant that she was the one everyone came to with questions. Hermione was happy to have her current reputation, she was thrilled to help people, but now that meant she had to make sure there was someone else who could answer every question someone had. And there were always a lot of questions.

So she'd been going to work early and making charts and instructions for everyone in the office before she got started on her actual work. Hermione found the task to be exciting, whereas someone else would say it was boring. She hoped that everyone in the department would appreciate her efforts and that she wouldn't leave them with irritation. Hermione had genuinely enjoyed working there and she'd like to retain some of the friends she'd made.

With a sigh she climbed out of bed and stretched before getting ready for the day. She was about to leave her room when she remembered her next largest amount of stress: moving day was only two days away. She'd given Ron the house; she hadn't wanted to stay there anyway because it was full of memories and those would keep her down. She'd found a flat she could rent for a decent price in London that was fairly close to the Ministry, which was going to be nice because in case of emergencies she could probably get there before anyone else.

Hermione shook her head and promised herself that she would organize her boxes that night. Ron had sent over anything he thought she might want and Hermione would still need to return to her old house to pick up the things in inevitably forgot to send her. She'd do that tomorrow, when she didn't feel as tired as she did now.

Harry and Ginny weren't particularly excited that she was leaving, but Hermione knew they were just worried. They wanted to be able to take care of her, considering everything that had happened within the last few weeks. Hermione was confident she could take care of herself. She was terrified about having another baby, but she could put that out of her mind well enough. And she was oddly okay with leaving Ron. Their marriage, she knew, had been over long before she found him with Vanessa, and now they wouldn't have to pretend anymore. They could just go back to being friends, good friends, who might just happen to have a child together, if everything worked out.

Hermione went into work after staring at the boxes for too long. She made her charts and her lists happily, and then her coworkers came in and the monotony of the day began. At lunch Harry came up to visit her, and her coworkers felt a bit starstruck, but they always did when he came by. Harry, despite hating the attention, caught everyone's eye when he entered a room. They talked about simple things like the move or what they would have for dinner that night. He made a point to ask her how she was doing, and Hermione knew exactly what he meant. But that didn't mean she wanted to talk about what was happening.

"You should call them," Harry said eventually as he stood next to her office door. "They'd want to know."

"Harry…" Hermione said, shaking her head immediately. "It's not like they can do anything. They're half a world away."

"Hermione, you're their daughter. Call your parents; tell them what's happening. At least then they won't be surprised when everything works out in eight months and they have a grandchild."

Hermione shook her head slightly. Her parents, while found, had decided to remain in Australia. She wasn't close to them anymore, because they were so far away and with the time difference it could be hard to get ahold of them. She could try apparating to Sydney, but it wasn't a good idea to apparate that far. Hermione really only saw them every other year, when she went down to see them at Christmas. They were happy though, which was good. She wouldn't want them to have to move back when they were so happy in Australia. Still, the distance had made their little family drift away. "They nearly fell apart with me after Rose. I'm not telling them until I'm sure."

"Fair enough," Harry said with a sigh. "At least call and tell them you're leaving Ron?"

"You know they'll just tell me they're glad I'm doing what makes me happy," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "I'll call tonight, if it's that important to you, Harry. You're like a mother now, did you know?"

"I am a parent." he said, grinning at her before wishing her a good rest of the day and leaving her office.

Hermione got back to work after that. She decided to stay late to get some extra work done and by the time she got back to Harry and Ginny's house that evening, she was exhausted. Harry and Ginny were in the living room when she returned, and Hermione decided not to disturb them. They'd been so good to her lately and she owed them a bit of alone time.

She went back to the room she was staying in and stared angrily at her boxes. Ron hadn't organized them hardly at all, and it was bothering her. So she stayed up late that night, fixing everything until it was done properly and she felt like she could go to sleep.

Hermione fell onto her bed, yawning as she closed her eyes and tried to get to sleep. Before she did, however, she gently rested a hand on her stomach. "Please be okay…" she whispered, just loud enough for herself to hear. She removed her hand after a second and put it near her face until she was in a comfortable position and drifted off to sleep.

Sleep was anything but peaceful that night. Hermione woke around midnight, her heart racing as she frantically kicked the blankets on her bed to make sure she hadn't started bleeding. In her dream she'd suffered a miscarriage, and it had struck fear into her heart. The next dream was hardly any better; it featured a little girl she thought vaguely resembled her and Ron asking why Hermione had let her die. When she'd woken from that nightmare, there had been tears falling down her cheeks. Hermione was just glad she hadn't screamed and woken Harry, Ginny, or the boys.

After that dream, which she knew was about Rose, Hermione decided to just get up for the day. It was only four in the morning, and she knew that she should sleep more, but she'd do it later, when she wasn't going to have nightmares about losing children. After getting up and making herself tea, Hermione decided that Harry was probably right. She did need to tell her parents about Ron at the very least, because they they wouldn't be clueless when they eventually came to visit and he wasn't around.

Harry had a phone he used to call his cousin from time to time, and Hermione picked it up with a slight sigh and a hope that Harry didn't mind her calling her parents with it. It was early afternoon in Sydney, and Hermione knew they didn't tend to see patients frequently during the early afternoon; they were busier in the morning and the early evening.

The phone rang a couple of times before Hermione heard, "Dr. Granger speaking," which made her smile slightly. "Hello?"

"Mum?" Hermione said softly, trying to stay quiet so she wouldn't wake anyone else in the house.

"Hermione? Is that you?"

"Is there anyone else who would call you 'mum'?" Hermione asked with a slight smile.

She heard her mother laugh, and Hermione was reminded just how much she did miss them. "No, I suppose that was a silly thing to say. I haven't heard from you in a while, Hermione. How are you?"

"I...Well I've been better," Hermione said, clutching the phone tightly and looking around to make sure no lights were coming on. "I'm leaving Ron."

"What?" her mother asked, sounding shocked. "Hermione, what happened?"

"We're not in love anymore," Hermione said. "We love each other, but we're not in love. That and, well, I caught him in bed with a younger woman named Vanessa."

"My God," her mother said, and Hermione could hear the disapproval in her voice. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. If we weren't so busy at the office your dad and I would fly out right now. Do we need to come? We can always threaten to remove his teeth."

It was Hermione's turn to laugh, though she quickly said, "No, no please don't threaten him. We're going to stay friends; we...don't really have another choice. And anyway, he still means a lot to me and I assume I mean a lot to him too. It's just going to be a different relationship."

"What do you mean you don't have another choice?" her mother asked suspiciously. "You always have a choice, Hermione."

"Mum…" Hermione said, feeling weaker than she would have liked. "I...There was an accident. I'm fine now, but...Ron and I had a fight when I told him I was leaving him and I was an idiot who ran on to the street-"

"What happened?" her mother pressed.

Hermione swallowed hard before deciding to just come completely clean. "I got hit by a car. But I'm fine, okay? Don't freak out-Mum, I can hear you freaking out. Stop; I'm fine. I had a head injury and some broken bones but those are fixed. I had some bleeding too, and...The healers at St. Mungos used some early detection spell, and I...I-"

"Early detection?" her mom asked, sounding horrified. "Do you have cancer, Hermione? Is that what this is? We're closing the office; we'll reschedule everything, but you are not going through this alone; I won't-"

"Mum I'm pregnant," Hermione said softly, making her mother stop cold. "I'm pregnant. Five, almost six weeks now, according to the healer that figured it out, which makes sense because Ron and I _did_ …"

She trailed off and waited for her mother to respond. She was afraid that her parents would be upset with her, but that was an irrational fear because when her mother finally did speak again, she sounded ecstatic. "Hermione that's _fantastic_!" she said. "Oh, I know how hard it must be after Rose, but _Hermione_ …"

"Are you crying?" Hermione asked, recognizing what her mother's thick voice meant.

"I'm just so happy," she said softly. "You went through such an ordeal with Rose, but...your father and I struggled with it too, but we always hoped you would try again. You're going to make such a good mother, Hermione, it just comes naturally to you."

"What if things don't work?" she asked in a small voice. "What do I do if this one is exactly like what happened before?"

"We'll help you," her mother said immediately. "Your father and I will come up whenever you go into labor, and we'll stay with you if something bad happens. But don't scare yourself; this could work out for the best. And then we'll come up and stay with you and our grandchild. Oh, your father is going to be so excited…"

"What about the office?"

"The...Right; the office. Well, they'll just have to manage without us whenever it happens. Hermione, I...I know we've not been close since the memory charm and moving to Australia, but your dad and I do love you. We were upset, when we found out what you'd done, but...but that was years ago and we understand, kind of. But no matter what, you're more important than the dental office. Okay?"

"Okay," Hermione said, feeling slightly relieved. "Thank you."

"Of course, Hermione-hold on; isn't it four in the morning back in England?"

Hermione blushed slightly. "Nightmares," she said quietly. "But I was up and I wanted to talk to you. I should go before I wake someone up; I'm staying with Harry and Ginny and their kids."

"Okay, Hermione. Try and sleep more. I'll talk to you soon, okay? I love you."

"I love you too." Hermione said before hanging up and setting the phone on the kitchen counter. She took a deep breath, trying to convince herself that everything really was going to work out, before she went back upstairs to go to bed. She didn't need to be up for another couple of hours, and she wanted to make sure she was as rested as possible for work the next day.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Draco spent his afternoon sorting through boxes to try and figure out what he wanted to keep and what he needed to get rid of. It was one of the few days he let Astoria's parents take their grandson around and treat him to various things that Draco never dreamed of letting him have. But their help for the day was necessary; he'd been sent over a large amount of toys, clothes, and various other things his mother thought he might need. It was completely ridiculous; he could provide for his own son. And he knew full well it was just a ploy to get him to come home. If she sent him enough things she thought he would run out of space and just go back to the manor. It was a decent enough strategy, but it wasn't going to work. He always picked out a few things for Scorpius to keep and gave the rest to Blaise and Olivia, or to a secondhand shop a few blocks away from their house.

It took a few hours to look through everything, sort it into piles, and then put it all in the appropriate locations. After that Draco was alone, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. Before Astoria he would have gone out, but now he felt like he was an old man and going out didn't sound appealing at all. He ended up just sitting at his kitchen table with tea and the Daily Prophet. He hadn't read it in a few weeks; at most he glanced at the first page and then hurried to do whatever else was on his agenda. But there was nothing today, and he could relax. Or try to; Draco found relaxing near impossible lately.

Halfway through the paper he saw a short mention of a muggle man that had died; apparently he'd been married to an older witch and she swore up and down that someone had broken into their home and murdered her husband. Everyone else seemed to think that he'd just passed away of old age; no foul play was currently suspected. Still, it left Draco feeling a bit uneasy. He didn't care about the man, he didn't even know him, but death was never a good thing. And if the witch was right, then it was murder and that seemed even worse.

He put the paper down eventually, stopping after an article by Ginny Potter that he didn't care about too much. There were changes going on at Hogwarts, but that wouldn't affect him for another seven or so years. Once again though, he had no idea what he should do with himself. It was three in the afternoon and Scorpius wouldn't be back until six that evening; he had three hours to kill, and not a single thing he could do with them.

It took another twenty minutes for him to decide to go to Diagon Alley. Draco avoided going there as much as possible, but he was nearly out of potion ingredients and he was thinking about getting Scorpius a training broom. He could dip into his savings for that; they were saved to make Scorpius happy, and Draco knew he was getting interested in flying. With that thought in mind he grabbed his wand and apparated into the busy street.

As per usual, Draco kept his head lowered to the ground while he scanned around for anyone who might be upset with him. He didn't have to do that around muggles because they had no clue who he was, but the wizarding world did, and not just because he was one of the best healers at St. Mungos. He caught a couple of people sending him a glare, and one man he didn't know shouted that he should be in Azkaban, but Draco ignored them. Staying aloof was better than showing he feared the people. If they knew he feared them, they might try and hurt him or Scorpius, and that was what Draco was really afraid of.

He ducked inside the apothecary to buy what he was running out of. Draco still liked potions, he was good at brewing them, so he refused to buy any and just made them himself. Once he finished there he hurried to Quality Quidditch Supplies to look at their training brooms. They had a decent supply and none of them were overly expensive. He bought the best one he could find for Scorpius, excited for his son to get home so Draco could surprise him with it.

He was leaving the shop when he heard someone call his name. He looked around, confused as to who would be stupid enough to approach him in a crowded place, though he wasn't terribly surprised by who he saw. Draco sighed heavily, resigning himself to about thirty seconds of irritation, before turning and walking over to where Harry Potter was waving at him. His old nemesis was alone, but looked happy enough. "I've just sent the kids in to get ice cream; can I have a word with you?"

"Make it quick," Draco said, trying to keep his voice from sounding too angry. If someone saw him shouting at the precious Boy Who Lived, Draco had no doubt that he would be cursed on the street. "What do you want, Potter?"

"I have a quick question," he said, grinning. Draco just shook his head, frustrated; he just as easily could have sent an owl. "Around eight weeks; is morning sickness really heavy?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Is Granger feeling sick?"

"Oh, not Hermione," Harry said. "It's hitting her too, but Ginny's pregnant as well and spends all morning throwing up now. It wasn't nearly this bad with our first two kids, and I just want to make sure everything is okay. She refuses to ask a healer so when I saw you...it seemed like a good idea."

"I don't specialize in pregnancy, Potter," he said, trying not to sigh. "It's different every time. I'm sure your wife is fine."

"Right, thanks, Malfoy. I...Can I ask you something else?" Draco nodded, which gave him the courage to continue. "What's the chance of Hermione having another stillborn baby, or a miscarriage? She knows, I know she knows, but she won't talk about it. If it's a high percentage then I just want to make sure I'm prepared to help her."

"It's a small number; around ten percent. It might be higher for her considering she experienced trauma and had problems before, but don't stress too much. Stress makes everything worse."

"Thank you," Potter said softly. "I know we're not your favorite people but you have helped a lot and we do really appreciate it. I'll leave you be; I should get back to my kids, but thank you."

Draco nodded, feeling rather off because Harry Potter had been nice to him. That shouldn't be too odd because they'd both grown up, but it still felt wrong. A little over ten years ago they'd absolutely despised each other. Now they were just people who didn't like each other much, but didn't really hate each other either. He could get used to not having Harry Potter as an enemy; not a friend, but just not an enemy.

He went home to his empty house. He still had to wait another two hours for Scorpius to get home. Draco sat down on his sofa, ready to read up on some new potions that he wanted to try, but before long he was drifting off to sleep. When he finally woke up, it was to knocking on his front door. Draco looked around, confused, before he saw the time and jumped off the sofa. He ran to the front door and yanked it open, and he was greeted with his sons jumping into his arms.

"Daddy!" Scorpius said, hugging Draco tightly as quickly as possible. "Daddy I came home."

"I know," Draco said, pleased that his son was so happy to see him. "Did you have fun today?"

"We played and we colored pictures and we made cake!"

Draco smiled and looked to Astoria's parents. "Was he well behaved?" he asked, wanting to hear that his son had been good.

"As always, Draco," Mrs. Greengrass said. "We'll see him again in two months?"

"Of course," Draco said. "I'm sure he'll look forward to it." She nodded and kissed Scorpius' cheek before she and her husband left. "I have a surprise for you," Draco said, which made Scorpius perk up. "I'm going to set you down and get the present for you, okay?"

Scorpius nodded and didn't get upset when Draco set him down. "What's the surprise?"

"Close your eyes," Draco said, grinning at his son. Scorpius obeyed immediately, and Draco quickly summoned the training broom he'd bought earlier that day. "Okay, you can open them."

The look on his son's face was priceless. Scorpius clapped his hands and started to jump up and down, which made Draco smile and feel like a good parent. "Daddy!" Scorpius cheered, taking the broom and hugging it tightly. "You're the best!"

Draco smiled and kissed the top of his son's head as Scorpius hurried to give him a tight hug. "I thought you'd like it. We can test it out later tonight, okay? I'm glad you like it."

His son nodded and hugged him tightly, unwilling to let go. That night, after dinner, Draco cleared the living room and helped Scorpius with the training broom. His son laughed gleefully, even when he ran into the wall that Draco had cushioned. He was thrilled, actually, and it made Draco smile. He wanted his son to be happy, he wanted to make his son happy, and today he'd succeeded. He couldn't say the same about every other day, but today he was a good parent.

When he put Scorpius to bed that night, his son clung to him in a tight hug. He kept mumbling that Draco was the best and that Scorpius didn't want to be with anyone else. It warmed Draco's heart; he really was being a successful parent. "Daddy," Scorpius said eventually, a large yawn breaking his thoughts. "I miss Mummy."

"I know," Draco said. "I miss her too."

"No, Daddy, I miss Mummy but I want a new one."

"They...They don't grow on trees, Scorpius," Draco said. "I'm sorry; I can't just pick one out."

"Can't Miss Sad Lady-Miss 'Mione-can't she be my new mummy?"

"No," Draco said, shaking his head. "No, she can't."

"But I like her," Scorpius mumbled. "She colored pictures with me."

"She did and that was very nice of her, but she has too many other things to do."

"But Daddy…"

"No, no complaining," Draco said, his voice becoming a bit firmer. "It's more complicated than you think, Scorpius. You're not the one that has to like her; I have to like her too-I have to like her like I did your Mummy."

"So like her," Scorpius argued. "Daddy please…"

"It's time to go to sleep," Draco said, feeling uncomfortable. "I'll see you in the morning; we'll have waffles. They're your favorite."

Scorpius yawned and nodded, curling into himself under his covers and quickly drifting off to sleep. Draco smoothed his hair for a moment before leaving the room with a heavy sigh. He never should have let Hermione Granger come into his home; Scorpius quickly got attached to people and now he was attached to her. "For Merlin's sake," Draco muttered to himself. "He wants her to be his mother."

Draco shook his head. Scorpius wouldn't let this one go easily, which meant he'd have to find some way to distract his son from his idea. He'd just feed him extra ice cream and waffles; Scorpius had a pretty big sweet tooth and sweets could make him forget about almost anything. He went to bed that night more exhausted than usual. He didn't want to sleep or dream about how Scorpius didn't have a mother, and he knew that he would dream about that. He had to work in the morning though, and he needed to sleep so he could care for patients to the best of his ability. When he did fall asleep, he dreamed of Scorpius without a mother just like he'd expected. He woke up in a bad mood, though he quickly tried to hide those feelings because he didn't want Scorpius to have a bad start to his day.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Hermione leaned over the garbage can in her office, trying her best to vomit quietly. She'd gone to work, she didn't really have much of a choice in that, but she felt absolutely miserable. Apparently morning sickness had hit her and Ginny at the same time, and Hermione was incredibly jealous. She'd gotten an extra two weeks without the morning sickness; Hermione seemed to have gotten stuck with it as soon as it could happen.

She sat back on her heels after the latest wave of nausea subsided. Hermione was tempted to just go home for the day because she was confident she wasn't going to feel much better. She was a little past six weeks along now and her morning sickness was just as bad as it had been when she'd been pregnant with Rose. The similarity made her feel uneasy; she didn't want this pregnancy to be anything like the one she'd had before. If it was, there was a good chance this baby would die too.

With a sigh she cleared the waste basket of vomit before going back to sitting at her desk. She was at the end of her time at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures; her last day had, so far, been spent hiding and throwing up in her office. Her fellow employees wanted to give her a big send off, but she honestly wasn't sure she could stomach it. She knew she should just suck it up and force everything down, but Hermione wasn't quite sure she was strong enough for that. So hiding was her best option. If she hid, no one would be able to look at her and see that she was pale and tired. They wouldn't ask questions that Hermione couldn't answer.

There was a knock at her door and Hermione looked up when a young woman she worked with entered her office. "Mrs. Granger?" she asked, sounding a bit nervous. Hermione really couldn't blame her; even though she wasn't a big fan of any type of fame, she'd gained some by being so close with Harry. It made people nervous. That and the fact that she was good at her job. She'd risen in the department after only being there a couple of weeks, and it was all on her own merit. Harry's fame made people more nervous to be around her, but Hermione had prestige of her own. "Mrs. Granger, if you're not too busy could you come with me for a few minutes?"

Hermione felt like sighing; this was the point when they would all tell her goodbye. She intimidated some of them, but Hermione knew they liked her well enough. "Of course, Cindy," Hermione said, rising once again. "How's your work with giants going?"

"Oh, it's-You know about that? Oh, of course you know about that. It's excellent, Mrs. Granger, it's really excellent."

Hermione smiled slightly, wishing she could make Cindy feel more comfortable with her. Hermione did like Cindy, she was a sweet girl. "I'm glad it's going well. You've worked really hard on that, I know."

Cindy nodded, though they soon reached their meeting room. Hermione saw a good number of people from her department gathered inside, all chatting happily. "Cindy, what is this?"

"It's...It's a going away party, Mrs. Granger. We thought you might enjoy it."

Hermione smiled slightly and shook her head. "That's really kind of you all, Cindy." she said before she was led into the room. Hermione smiled as her coworkers all grinned and told her they hoped she would enjoy her time at the next department. She went around the room, smiling and talking with other people. A few times she felt like she might get sick, but Hermione managed to keep all of that down throughout the going away party she'd been thrown.

After a while she went back to her office. She had a few things left in there that she needed to pack away, and she wanted to get back to her new flat at a decent time. She was exhausted and sleep sounded really nice, but that required being at home. Hermione put a few pictures she'd left on her desk into her bag before finishing up a bit of paperwork and leaving her office. It wasn't going to be hers anymore, but she would miss it. It was quiet and had easy access to everything she might need. She hadn't been to her next office yet, but she was going to set her things up the next day.

She decided to walk home that night. The ministry really was close to her flat, and she was going to enjoy walking back and forth to work every day. She hadn't been able to do that at her house with Ron, nor had she been able to do that at Harry and Ginny's house. It was going to be really nice; less so in the winter, but the summers were going to be excellent.

The flat wasn't anything special, but Hermione was quickly falling in love with it. It was small and quiet and had enough room for a couple of bookshelves. They were full, books were the first things she'd bothered to unpack, and Hermione was already considering buying more shelves and more books to fill them. She wanted to know as much as possible; she wanted to to keep learning her entire life.

Hermione enjoyed the walk, but she more than that she enjoyed getting home and putting her feet up. She cracked open a book but quickly dozed off with it resting on her chest. She didn't dream, which was a relief considering she'd had nightmares about Rose most nights. Now though she just slept, her mind far off and happy.

When she woke it was just past eight at night. Hermione sat up, feeling a bit dizzy and slightly nauseous again, but not bad enough that she didn't think she could get up without a problem. When she did stand, Hermione had to hold on to the back of the sofa. As soon as that happened, fear gripped her heart. She hadn't been this weak all day, and now it was hitting her like a pound of bricks. "No," Hermione whispered, terrified. "No, no, no…"

After a moment she apparated and landed in the waiting area at St. Mungos. She stood calmly in the short line, squeezing her eyes shut every now and then to try and make herself feel better. When she gets to the front of the line she was immediately recognized and whisked away into the same room they always took her into. The healers always sent her to that room, maybe because it was nice and private and they wanted to make sure she was pleased with her experience. Hermione didn't really care where she was stashed, not at this moment in time, not when she was so afraid that everything was about to go wrong.

The door to the room opened and closed quickly and Hermione heard a heavy sigh. "Granger, what on earth are you here for? You realize that if it's morning sickness then it's not anything to be worried about, right?"

"Something's wrong," Hermione said, unwilling to look at him. "I...I know that something's wrong. I'm…"

There was another sigh, and Hermione heard, "I need a few seconds." Malfoy said with a heavy sigh. Hermione was quiet while Draco Malfoy performed a couple of spells.

But it felt like it had taken too long. So with a voice that she struggled to keep steady, Hermione said, "Just say it, will you? If it's gone, just say it. Just tell me."

"You need to take it easy," Malfoy said quietly. "Everything seems to be fine, but you need to take better care of yourself."

"I-You're sure?" Hermione asked, relief washing over her at his words. "How do you know?"

"The spell tells me all I need to know about your pregnancy. But I can see on your face that you're tired-dark circles around your eyes, and they're a bit bloodshot as well. Now, I'm aware you're leaving your husband and that means either you're boxing up his things or he's boxed up yours and you've moved out. Either way, you should stop for a few days and just let yourself get some rest."

"I'm fine," Hermione said. "I just...I got really dizzy and I thought I was going to faint. I thought that meant something was wrong."

"It means you need to stop overworking yourself. You're pregnant, Granger, there are more things that you need to take care of than just your work now."

"Malfoy-"

"I'm not trying to be rude," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'm your healer though, and for your own health and the health of the thing you're carrying, you need to slow down."

"That's a little easier said than done," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "I'm sorry for bothering you; I shouldn't have, but I was worried."

"Understandably," he said, which made Hermione raise her eyebrows slightly. He was agreeing with her; why was he agreeing with her? "Look, Granger, I don't like you any more than you like me, but I'm going to make sure nothing happens to you; I'm going to make sure everything goes right this time. After it's all over, you can stay out of my hair and I'll stay out of yours."

"Why would you do that for me?" Hermione asked. "You're basically offering to personally care for me for eight months; I know you don't want to do that."

"You made my son happy," he muttered begrudgingly. "I owe you. This will make you happy, won't it?"

"I...Yes, but...Malfoy, you really don't have to do this for me. I'm glad I made your son happy; he's a sweet boy and he deserves to be happy. But that doesn't mean you need to be miserable for eight months."

"Just let me do this, won't you?" he asked, sounding exasperated. "I'd rather just get this over with. I don't want you to see many more healers than me-especially not some half wit oaf named Baker; never see him. You know where I live now; if it's an emergency and I'm not here, you come straight to me."

"Malfoy-"

"Please," he said softly, sounding concerned. "I'm one of the best healers in St. Mungos, I can make sure you're okay. I can make sure you're safe."

"There are other qualified healers here."

"Granger, I'm doing something to make sure I'm not in your debt. I can't think of anything other than making sure we're even."

"You don't need to pay me back for anything," Hermione said, shaking her head slightly. "It's not a big deal, me spending a bit of time with your son. I like him, he's a good kid. You don't need to make yourself miserable."

Silence hung in the air, and Hermione stared at Draco Malfoy while he stared hard at the floor. Finally he spoke, and said, "I don't understand."

Hermione sighed softly. "I did something nice for you, I understand that. And you should do something nice for other people, but you're not required to do anything just because I did something for you-for your son, actually. Does that make sense?"

He just shook his head slightly. "You're free to go." he said, looking unnerved.

Hermione stood and shook his hand, thanking him once more for helping her. She felt kind of ridiculous for coming to St. Mungos for nothing, but she was glad she had been safe. If something had gone wrong again and she didn't get it checked out, she never would have forgiven herself. And she didn't think Ron would forgive her either.

She shook her head, slightly annoyed by the thought of Ron. He had, apparently, decided not to leave Vanessa. Hermione hoped that Vanessa made him happy, but she was miffed that Ron had stayed with the woman he'd cheated with. He'd said it meant nothing but apparently it meant something to him, and that stung a little bit more than she'd expected.

Hermione was about to leave the hospital when she heard someone shout her name. Or, rather, she heard someone shout, "Miss Mione!" She turned around, worried that she was going to see Albus or James, but it was a pale blonde head that was rushing toward her. Hermione felt the little boy collide with her legs, and he looked up at her with a smile. "Miss Mione, you're here! Daddy said I probably wouldn't see you again."

"Oh did he?" Hermione asked, smiling slightly at him. "Well, looks like we proved him wrong. But what are you doing, running around St. Mungos?"

"I got bored," he said, shrugging slightly. "Daddy won't be happy because he says I'm not supposed to leave the room with the other kids. But I get to see you!"

"As much as I like seeing you, Scorpius, we should get you back to that room so that he won't be worried." Hermione said. She knew that she would be terrified if her child ran off, and she imagined that Draco would feel the same. "Do you want to show me where it is? I bet your Daddy will be back to take you home soon."

Scorpius shook his head. "I have to stay here tonight. It's not any fun."

"You have to stay here?" Hermione asked, slightly concerned.

"Daddy works all night."

Hermione frowned slightly but quickly changed it to a smile. "Well, let's get you back to the room. He'll still be worried."

Scorpius nodded and took her hand and began to pull her toward the room where the children were watched.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Draco was completely panicked. He'd been called to the daycare center once again, and he was furious about it. He didn't know why they had so much trouble taking care of his son, but he was prepared to giving them a proper talking to when he got there. But when he did arrive, he didn't see his son anywhere. He didn't hear his familiar voice call out his name and no one came running up to greet him. Draco looked around the room, where he noticed the worker frowning at him, looking slightly afraid. Draco stormed over to the man, scared out of his mind, before he said, "Where is my son?"

"Mr. Malfoy, Scorpius, well, he said he was getting bored, and I turned my back and the next thing I knew he was gone. Now, I've sent people looking to find him, but so far-"

"You lost my son," Draco said with a slight shake of his head. "You lost my son!"

"Mr. Malfoy-"

"Are you so incompetent that you could lose a three and a half year old child? Your job is to look after them and yet you've lost my son!" Draco shouted, his fear clouding his better judgement. There were a few other kids in the room who looked startled when he yelled, and Draco quickly got quiet again. "How do you just lose a child?"

"I turned around, Mr. Malfoy, I'm-"

Draco shook his head and started to storm out of the room. He didn't know where Scorpius would have gone, but he needed to find his son. He needed to make sure no one saw Scorpius and hurt him after realizing who he was. Draco would never forgive himself if his son got hurt on his watch; he would never feel like a competent father again.

He left the room and started walking down the corridor, but almost as soon as he did, he heard, "Daddy!"

Draco whipped around and let out a breath of relief. "Scorpius," he breathed, rushing over to hug his son tightly. "Scorpius, you cannot just run off like that."

"Daddy, I found Miss Mione!" Scorpius said proudly, squirming as Draco hugged him. "She said I had to go back to see you because you were worried."

"She's right," Draco said, hugging Scorpius tighter. "Scorpius, you really can't do things like that."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Scorpius whispered, sounding ashamed. "I just don't like it here."

"I know, but I don't have another choice," Draco said softly. "I'm sorry, but you have to stay here, Scorpius. You have to stay near me. I need you to stay near me."

"But Daddy…"

"No, no arguments," Draco said softly. "It's just you and me, Scorpius, and we have to stick together, remember?"

"But Daddy, I want to go home with Miss Mione," Scorpius said, pouting. "I like Miss Mione."

"Miss Mione doesn't want you to come home with her," Draco said sternly. "She has other things to do than to watch you."

"May I speak with you for a moment?" Granger asked after a moment. "Mal-Draco, may I please speak to you?"

Draco sighed heavily. "Go back inside, Scorpius. You'll need to change into pajamas and get ready for bed; it's almost your bedtime."

Scorpius did as he was told, though he looked upset. Draco turned his attention to Hermione Granger then, who had her arms folded across her chest and looked unhappy. "First of all, stop making it seem like I don't want anything to do with him," she said. "He's such a sweet boy, and he doesn't need to think that I don't like him."

"I'm-I'm not trying to make him think that," Draco said, frowning at her. "I'm just saying that you have other things to worry about."

"In a bad way," Granger said. "But secondly, Malfoy, maybe I can help you?" He raised an eyebrow at her but didn't speak, so she continued. "I know you're not going to like what I have to offer, but I'll feel better if I at least offer it. Malfoy, maybe he can come and stay with me?"

"You're not serious." he said, immediately shaking his head.

"Hear me out," Granger protested. "There are a couple of times a week when you have to work overnight. I only work during the day, so maybe he could just stay with me? It's near his bed time anyway, so he'll mostly be asleep. Then he's in a safe place with someone you can trust-you can trust me with him, I've successfully watched my nephews before-and it will benefit both of us."

"How?" he asked. He hated it, but her idea really wasn't that bad. Of course he'd rather not do it with Hermione Granger, but he couldn't fault her in her logic.

"Well, you could know that your son is in a safe place. And I wouldn't have to stay in my flat alone. It's not like it really matters, but after living with people for so long, I don't like being completely on my own. Scorpius would be asleep so it's not like I'd have company, but still, he'd be there. Look, you don't have to decide tonight, but just think about it, okay? He might like staying at my flat too. I could get paper and he could color to his heart's delight; he seems to love that."

Draco stared at her in disbelief. He didn't know what to say. He didn't understand why she would want to help him or do something like this. "Why?" he asked softly.

"I don't know," she said. "I honestly don't. I'm starting to think that it's not you I want to help, I think it's him. Scorpius...Your son deserves all the happiness in the world. Every child does. If I can help in some way, I think I would like to. You could think of me as a babysitter."

"I'll think about it." he said, surprising himself as he spoke.

She smiled at him, and Draco wasn't sure what to do so he just nodded slightly. "Alright. I should get home now, but if you do ever want to discuss me taking Scorpius every now and then, you can always send me a note. I'm-"

"Moving to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I know."

"How do you know that?"

"Every time one of you heroes does something it's in the Daily Prophet. I've gotten caught up enough in the past few weeks to at least know that."

"Well," she said, straightening the cardigan she was wearing, "You know where to find me, or where to send a note to."

He nodded at her and said, "I do. I should get back to work, so I'll leave you be."

He turned around and went back to tell Scorpius to have a good night, because he couldn't think of anything else to do. He made his son promise to stay in the center, wishing he could just take Scorpius home for the night. It would make both of them happy, and that was really what Draco wanted. He wanted to make his son happy.

He spent the rest of his shift paranoid and afraid that Scorpius was going to run off again. He worked with the younger healers, trying to teach them something, but he was distracted the whole time. Draco adored his son; he adored knowing that Scorpius was safe and happy. But in truth, he knew that Scorpius wasn't happy spending almost every day at St. Mungos. He didn't like many of the other children that ended up in the daycare, and he always complained that the beds were uncomfortable when they got set up. Draco was trying his best, but his son wasn't as happy as he'd been before Astoria had died.

The next day, Draco dropped Scorpius off at Blaise's house around two in the afternoon and made his way over to the ministry. He felt nervous, which he hated, but Hermione Granger had offered him a way to make his son happy, and he'd do anything to make Scorpius smile. Some people gave him dirty looks, but that was to be expected. He ignored them and continued on his way, finding his way to the front desk and clearing his throat so the wizard sitting there would look at him. "I'm looking for Hermione Granger; do you know where I can find her?"

The wizard looked up at him and sneered. "Please. Hermione Granger isn't going to want anything to do with you. Go back to where you came from, Malfoy."

Draco frowned; he didn't even know the man, yet apparently he deserved someone being nasty to him. "She told me I could find her in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Can you just tell me where her office is, please?"

"No. I'm not going to be the one responsible for sending a Death Eater into a war hero's office. Find her somewhere-"

"Malfoy?" he heard, which made him turn around. He was both slightly relieved and slightly irritated to see Harry Potter jogging over to him. "What's going on here?"

"Mr. Potter!" the wizard said, sounding starstruck. "Mr. Potter, how can I help you?"

"What's going on here?" he asked, sounding confused.

"He's trying to see Hermione Granger, but I told him that she wouldn't want to see him."

"And did she tell you that?"

"Well, no, but your kind wouldn't want to mix with his."

Harry Potter raised an eyebrow and said, "Our kind? His? Seriously?"

"Well, Mr. Potter-"

"It would be wise to not hold grudges," he said. "That just causes problems. Come on, Malfoy. She's working hard, as per usual. I'll show you where her office is."

Draco just nodded and followed Harry Potter. He felt a bit silly for needing Potter's help to go and see Hermione Granger. But he needed to talk to her, and he wasn't going to be stopped by the wizard at the front desk.

Harry Potter kept chattering as he walked Draco toward the office. He never once asked about why Draco was there, nor did he mention what had happened with the other wizard. After a few minutes they're standing in the doorway of an office, and Draco saw Granger filling out paperwork on her desk. Potter knocked on the door frame and said, "You've got a visitor, Hermione. I'll leave you two alone-Don't forget that you're having dinner at our house tonight."

She nodded before looking up, and her face was full of surprise when she did. "Malfoy? You're here?"

He stepped inside the office and shut the door. "I...I wanted to talk about your offer."

"Oh," she said. "Oh, of course. I'm happy to talk about it with you. I'm just going to finish filling out this last bit of paperwork and then I'll be all yours, okay?" She looked back down at her paper without waiting for him to respond. It took another minute or two, but she did eventually move the papers away and look back up at him. "Oh, you can sit down. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you and not tell you to sit. I've been a bit busy today, but it's nothing I can't handle. And I love the challenge of doing something new, you know? Anyway, you didn't come here to hear me ramble. What can I help you with?"

"Your offer," he said, feeling like she hadn't really listened to him when he'd arrived. "I...How serious was that? Because...You make my son happy, and if I can do something to make him happy, I'd like to try. I...I know how much of a burden that would be on you, but I could pay you, and-"

"Don't worry about it," she said. "He can color me pictures so I can have some art. That's payment enough. You'll just have to give me the dates you need me to watch after him, okay?"

Draco nodded. He didn't stay to chat for long, but he did feel accomplished after he left. He had good news for Scorpius, and his son would be overjoyed at hearing that he could spend more time with Hermione Granger, a woman he appeared to like quite a bit.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

She may have gone a bit overboard while getting things for Scorpius Malfoy. Hermione wanted him to enjoy staying at her flat though, she wanted him to tell his father that he liked staying with her so that Draco Malfoy wouldn't think her completely incompetent. So she bought a small bed, decorated the room with pictures of fun things that she thought children liked, and she bought paper and crayons and markers because she knew he liked to color. She bought finger paints and paintbrushes too; they could make crafts and maybe he would be happy. Her nephews loved making crafts, and she knew was hoping that Scorpius would enjoy it too.

Hermione was supposed to pick him up around six that evening, when Draco Malfoy went into work. She knew that he was nervous about leaving his son with her, despite countless attempts on her part to assure him that everything would be fine. He seemed to be worried that Scorpius would get too attached to her, even though Hermione promised she would be more like a baby sitter or an aunt than anything else. And, she'd told him, it meant they could finally put aside some of the ill will that had been left over after Hogwarts and the war.

After setting up the guest room for Scorpius Malfoy, Hermione went back to the sofa and cracked open a book. She still had another two hours before she needed to go and get him, and she couldn't think of anything better to do than just relax. She'd been stressed about her new job all week and she'd been stressed about divorcing Ron. They were only two weeks into the process, and it was going fine but Hermione was still worried that something would go wrong eventually and make the process longer. If she was lucky it would only take three or four months, and then she could be officially done with her husband. All of that stress meant that she'd hadn't taken Malfoy's advice, and she knew he'd see it on her face when she picked up Scorpius. He would be able to see that she was still just as tired as she'd been a week ago, when she'd seen him at the hospital, and he wouldn't be happy with her.

She read for an hour and a half. After that she went back through everything she'd bought to make sure it would actually make Scorpius happy. She thought it would, but then again she didn't know him too well yet. That would change, after spending more time with him, but first she had to get him. At that thought she decided to apparate, landing on the Malfoy's front steps and immediately feeling queasy. Apparating apparently wasn't a good combination with the morning sickness she'd been getting off and on; she'd have to remember that and avoid doing it any time in the near future.

Once her stomach settled, Hermione walked up to the door and knocked. It took a few minutes, but the door was eventually pulled open and she was met with a frazzled looking Draco Malfoy. "Is everything okay?" she asked immediately, worried that something had gone wrong.

"He's off the bloody walls today," he muttered, letting her inside. "He's excited to see you; apparently you're his best friend."

Hermione smiled slightly as she was led into the family room. She saw Scorpius flying around on a small training broom and she smiled again; Harry's sons were on those things all the time. "Miss Mione!" Scorpius yelled when he saw her, attempting to halt the broom so he could run over and greet her. The attempt ended with him falling off, but he quickly stood and hurried over to give her a hug. "Daddy said I get to stay with you instead of at the hospital?"

"That's right," Hermione said with a smile. "And I have a bunch of stuff for coloring; I thought you could help me decorate my walls tonight. I rather like the look of your walls here."

He grinned widely, rocking back and forth on his feet. "I like coloring," he said, "Can we go now so we can color?"

Hermione looked to Draco Malfoy for approval, who nodded slightly. He seemed more relaxed, and Hermione was pleased that she could help him. "Come here for a moment," Draco said, and Scorpius rushed over to jump into his father's arms. "You be good for her, okay? I don't want to hear any complaints."

"I know, Daddy." Scorpius said, nodding obediently.

"And if you want to leave and come to the hospital, you just have to tell her and she'll bring you, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy."

"And...Have fun, okay? Color a picture for me?"

Scorpius grinned then and hugged his father tightly. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too," Malfoy whispered, holding Scorpius tightly as well. He finally cleared his throat and set him down. He picked up a bag and handed it to Hermione before saying, "If there are any problems, don't hesitate to come into the hospital. I'll...I'll be there around eight tomorrow morning to pick him up; is that still okay?"

She nodded. "That's perfect. I'll make sure he gets breakfast before you get there."

"Thank you," he said. "For...All of this. You don't make sense, Granger, but I appreciate...I appreciate your help."

Hermione knew the words would be hard for him to say, especially to her, so instead of making it a big deal she just smiled at him. "It's my pleasure. Now, we'd best be off; do you want to ride the Knight Bus back to my flat, Scorpius?"

He nodded happily and clutched her hand as they left the house. They climbed on board and Hermione entertained him with a book she'd brought in her bag. It was, to her surprise, a pleasant evening. Scorpius was one of the most well behaved kids she'd ever been around; he was polite, he didn't make too big of a mess, and he had the most adorable laugh she'd ever heard. They colored pictures together for at least an hour and a half before Hermione decided to start on dinner. Scorpius insisted on helping, so Hermione had him wash tomatoes and any other vegetable she needed. He had a large smile on his face the entire time, so she knew he was still having fun.

Dinner itself was an interesting affair. Scorpius seemed more relaxed the longer he spent with her, and he cracked terrible jokes that Hermione was careful to laugh at. After they watched a bit of a children's program on the television, and then Hermione helped him get ready for bed. He went to sleep without a problem, and Hermione felt incredibly successful. She could, it seemed, properly care for a child and that gave her some hope. If everything worked out with her pregnancy, maybe she wouldn't be a disaster of a mother.

Hermione did the dishes and read for another hour or so before deciding to go to bed. She felt slightly uncomfortable when she laid down, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Her whole body felt slightly uncomfortable now, but she knew that was to be expected. Halfway through the night, however, Hermione woke with a sudden urgency. She hurried to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet, slightly frustrated. She hated getting sick, and it seemed to happen to her all the time now. If it wasn't dizziness, which she preferred, it was throwing up and that led to some sticky situations.

She'd just flushed the toilet and washed her hands when she heard, "Miss Mione? Are you sick?"

She turned around to see a sleepy Scorpius Malfoy behind her. "What are you doing out of bed?" she asked, taking his hand and leading him back to the guest room.

"I heard someone throwing up," he said innocently. "Are you sick? Am I going to get sick?"

"No, Sweetie, it's not contagious," Hermione said softly, sending him a small smile to try and help him feel secure. "You won't get sick."

"Are you going to die?"

"What? No, Scorpius, I'm not going to die." Hermione said, feeling shocked by the question.

"My Mummy got sick and died; that's what Daddy said. I don't want you to die too." he said, tears coming to his eyes.

Hermione wasn't quite sure what to say, so she just opened her arms slightly and Scorpius gave her a tight hug. "I'm not going to die," Hermione promised softly. "I'm not going to die. And I'm not really sick. I...I have a little baby inside me, and sometimes it makes my stomach upset. But it'll go away soon, okay? I'm not going to die."

"You're going to be a Mummy?" he asked quietly, sniffling every now and then. "Can you be my mummy too? I...I want you to be my mummy."

Once again she didn't know how to respond. Draco Malfoy would probably hate that his son had said those words. "I don't think I can be your mummy," Hermione said. "But I can be your friend, and that's just as good. Isn't it?"

He shrugged slightly, his small arms still wrapped around her stomach. "I wish you were my Mummy."

"Oh, Sweetie…" Hermione said, biting her lip and unsure of what else she could say. He yawned then, and she spoke again. "How about you go back to bed? In the morning we can make waffles and then you can see your Daddy again. Won't that be nice?"

He nodded slightly and laid back down, and Hermione tucked him in tightly before going back to her own room. She laid down too, wishing there was some better way for her to comfort Scorpius Malfoy than just getting quiet and feeling nervous about speaking. She wondered if she should tell Draco Malfoy what his son had said, but then again that might make him feel like he shouldn't let Scorpius stay with her when he worked nights. Hermione enjoyed company, and she wanted to do something nice for Draco Malfoy, considering how much he'd helped her heal in the last few weeks.

She eventually drifted off to sleep, but she didn't dream about Rose. It was a relief, but some small part of her felt guilty for not dreaming about her daughter. Was she forgetting? That couldn't be possible; she adored Rose even though she didn't know her. She couldn't forget about her daughter. She wouldn't forget about her daughter.

Hermione woke the next morning early enough to get ready for the day without rushing at all. It was a Saturday so she didn't need to be at work, which mean she dressed comfortable in a pair of shorts and a light shirt, as it was getting to be hot and she didn't want to feel uncomfortable. She got the batter for the waffles ready before waking Scorpius up to get ready as well. He brushed his teeth and got dressed before going out to the kitchen to cook with her once again. They were finishing breakfast around eight when there was a knock at her door. Hermione opened the door with a smile, feeling pleased with herself for successfully caring for Scorpius. Her smile fell as she looked over Draco Malfoy. He had deep bags under his eyes and he looked completely exhausted. Hermione just started shaking her head.

"Come inside. You need to eat, and you need to sleep. Do you have someone that can watch Scorpius for a few hours? I can, if you don't have anyone else."

"Granger-"

"No arguments, please," she said, shaking her head. "Come inside; we made waffles and they're delicious. You can get some sleep on the sofa; I'll take Scorpius to a park so he can run around and burn some energy."

"Granger, how do you know we don't have plans for today?"

"Do you?" she asked, confident that he wouldn't.

He grimaced and shook his head. "No, but-"

"Right; then come inside. Eat, sleep, and then you can avoid me." She was apparently bossy enough that he listened to her, because he walked inside and went to sit at the kitchen table. Scorpius greeted his father quietly, seeming to sense that he was tired, and Draco Malfoy ruffled his hair before falling into a chair at the table. Hermione quickly made him something to eat. It struck her then how odd the scene would seem to anyone who knew them from school; they'd been enemies. They'd hated each other. But now, she was watching his son and feeding him breakfast. She never would have imagined that she would be in this situation, but it really wasn't, she realized, a bad situation to be in.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Draco woke on an uncomfortable sofa. There was an afghan thrown on top of him and it dawned on him that he was actually quite content to be sleeping there. When he looked around though he realized he didn't recognize the room he was in, and that scared him. He sat up quickly before remembering what had happened. He'd come to pick up Scorpius and Hermione Granger had forced him to lay down and rest because she thought he was too tired. That was around eight; he looked around for a clock and was shocked to see that it was almost four in the afternoon. He'd probably slept for a solid seven hours; he couldn't remember the last time he'd done that.

He stood and stretched, his neck cracking after he rolled it around. The sofa, he thought, really needed to go so that he never had to sleep on it again. When he looked around he realized that Scorpius and Granger were gone, and he felt a bit panicked again. There was a note left for him on the refrigerator though, and he read that they'd gone to a park and then to get ice cream because it was hot outside. She'd been kind enough to give the name of the park, so Draco quickly apparated there to see if she was still there with his son.

He found them on the swings. Hermione was pushing Scorpius and he was laughing, looking free and happy. Draco wasn't sure how Granger had managed to get so close to his son so quickly, but a part of him was happy about it because his son looked like he was happy. He always seemed happy, but Scorpius was happier with Granger around.

Draco made his way over and Scorpius greeted him with a happy shout. "Daddy look how high I can go!" he yelled into the light breeze.

"That's really high," Draco said, amusing his son. "Be careful!"

"Miss Mione won't let me fall, Daddy," Scorpius said. "I like Miss Mione; you should like her too!"

He glanced at her then and saw her smirk at him. "That's right, Malfoy," she said quietly, so Scorpius wouldn't hear her. "You should like me."

He rolled his eyes. "Have I said recently that I don't?"

She put a hand to her chest and pretended to look amazed. "I'm sorry, hold on. Did the Draco Malfoy just admit to not hating me? I think I'm going to faint." She rolled her eyes then too, laughing softly as she did. "I'm glad to hear it. Believe it or not, I don't dislike you either. After all, how could I dislike you when you made such a cute kid?"

He smiled then, not enough that she could really see it but it was a smile nonetheless. "I think that was mostly Astoria. She's the one who watched after him the first two years of her life. I just worked."

She nodded slightly. "She was a good person. I feel sorry for Scorpius, losing his mother at such a young age."

"I do too," Malfoy said, shaking his head slightly. "Every now and then he asks about her. He doesn't remember her too much, I don't think, but he knows she's gone and he misses her."

Scorpius, he knew, was laughing too much on the swings to hear what they were saying. He normally tried to avoid talking about his late wife in front of his son, because it was hard for both of them, but for some reason he felt like Granger should know about her. "We always remember some of people we've lost. It's been years but we all still remember Fred, Ron's brother, and we remember Remus and Tonks, and…"

She trailed off, and Draco rubbed his forearm nervously. He'd been a part of that loss; he'd made her lose people. "I'm sorry." he said quietly.

"Hmm?" She seemed like she'd been lost in memories for a moment. "Oh, don't-I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I've...I don't even associate you with that anymore, Malfoy. I wasn't thinking; I shouldn't have mentioned the war."

"You don't associate me with that anymore?" he asked in disbelief. "How could you not? The rest of the world does. And...I nearly tortured you, Granger. How could you…"

"Call me crazy," she said, "but after watching you with Scorpius, I don't exactly think you're a monster. And, it's horribly hot, and you're still wearing long sleeves. I suspect that's to cover the tattoo, yes?"

"I…" he said, surprised that she could see through his actions so well. Most people never even thought about that.

"Exactly," she said. "I've lived with enough hate in my life to keep hating. I don't hate you. I forgive you, actually. You were a child; how were you to know any better?"

"I should have," he said stubbornly. "I should have known how backwards my father was-how backwards I was."

"Well, you know now, and that's more important." she said, just as stubborn as he was.

"Thank you for watching my son," Draco said, deciding to change the subject. He and Granger weren't going to agree on his past behavior, it seemed, but he could still thank her for watching Scorpius. "You don't have to stay though, I can handle him from here."

"But we were going to get ice cream," she said, frowning at him. "Are you really going to deny a pregnant woman her ice cream?"

He stared at her, slightly confused. "Do you want to spend time with you?"

"It's not like I can spend time with anyone else. My husband is most likely screwing a twenty year-old girl right now, and Harry and Ginny are at a quidditch match. I could always go and see Neville, but he's so happy with Hannah and I don't want to disturb them. And Luna...Well, I don't even know where she is. She's gone off with her husband in search of some magical creature that probably doesn't even exist. If I don't spend time with you and Scorpius, I'll spend time alone in my flat. If you want me to go then I'll go, but if you don't mind me staying then I'd rather stay."

He nodded slightly, embarrassed that he'd asked her to leave when she didn't want to. "I don't mind. Scorpius is going to be attached to your hip all day though. He's completely in love with you."

She smiled, and for a moment Draco thought that it was actually a nice smile. He pushed the thought out of his mind and reminded himself that she was technically married, and was definitely pregnant. Now was not the time to think about the fact that she had a nice smile, or that she interacted with his son better than anyone else.

"In all fairness, I'm quite taken with him too," she said, unaware of his thoughts. "I've always liked children. I always wanted some of my own, but as...as that probably won't ever happen, I'm happy to spend time with others."

"You're pregnant right now." he pointed out, hoping to ease her worries slightly.

"Let's be honest," she said quietly. "The likelihood of this working out is small. I know it; I've made peace with it. I...Anyway, I spend time with my nephews and nieces and now I spend some time with your son. It's alright; I'm happy."

He nodded, at a loss for words. He was saddened by the fact she thought her pregnancy wouldn't work out; he knew that some women in her position felt the same, but it sounded like she'd given up and that was one thing he knew that Hermione Granger never did.

Soon Scorpius climbed off the swing and finally hugged Draco. "Hi Daddy," he said, smiling. His cheeks were pink from pumping his legs and running around, and his hair was messy from the wind. Draco adored him. "Miss Mione is the bestest person in the whole world! She said we can get ice cream-can we still get ice cream, Daddy?"

"I've already been informed that ice cream is still on the agenda. She's a bit bossy, your new friend."

Scorpius giggled and said, "What's bossy mean?"

"It means," Granger said, injecting herself into the conversation, "that I like to tell people what to do. Which is why I'm telling you to march with me to the ice cream store and eat as much as your tummy lets you."

"You'll spoil your dinner if you do that," Draco said, shaking his head. "You can have one scoop-"

"But _Daddy_ , Miss Mione already said I could have more! I wanna listen to her!"

Hermione Granger grinned triumphantly at him while she picked Scorpius up and settled him in her arms. "One scoop now," Draco said, "and we'll get some to take home for later. Okay?"

Scorpius cheered and hugged Granger, which made Draco smile slightly. He shook his head at them before leading them to their normal store for ice cream. Granger had to put Scorpius down after a few blocks, but she was sure to hold his hand and talk to him throughout the entire walk. Once they got into the shop, Granger found them a table and gave Draco a few sickles and a galleon to cover the cost of her ice cream. Draco tried to push it back into her hands, but she gave him a stern look so he sighed and pocketed the money. Scorpius went with him to the counter and excitedly told the woman working there that he got ice cream now and later. She smiled at him, and Draco was relieved that she was being kind to his son. He never knew how people would react to him, but this witch didn't seem to have a big problem with him.

Once it had all been dished up, Draco brought the ice cream back to the table with Scorpius, who was excitedly licking his cone with his one scoop for now. He handed Granger the plain flavor, which she insisted is what she wanted, before settling into his chair and starting to eat his own. While they ate Scorpius made a mess and tried to explain how his day had gone with Hermione Granger. Apparently they'd drawn pictures and used finger paints as well, whatever those were, before making sandwiches for a picnic and heading to the park. Every now and then Draco glanced at Granger to see her nodding along and smiling. He was struck by the ease at which she sat at a table with him and his son; years ago this never would have happened.

But things, it seemed, were bound to go wrong. Just as Scorpius was finishing up his ice cream, a woman Draco didn't know approached them and put a hand on Granger's shoulder. The woman looked like she was in her mid forties, and she looked angry. "There's a seat at our table if you'd rather not sit with... _these_ people." she said, gesturing to a table that held a few other women around the same age.

Draco watched surprise form on Granger's face. "Excuse me?"

"Daddy what's happening?" Scorpius asked, well aware of the angry woman standing at their table.

"You don't need to sit with evil," the woman said. "I know you've got the opinion that everything can be resolved, but he can't be saved, and he's probably already twisted his offspring into a monster."

"Daddy?" Scorpius asked, his eyes wide and slightly afraid. "Daddy what's happening?"

"We should go," Draco said, desperate to get his son away from the anger of the woman. "Granger, thanks for helping, but I'm…"

She held up a finger in his direction and he fell silent, holding his son's hand and hoping that Granger didn't make a scene. "Thank you for the concern," she said slowly. "But I'd appreciate it if you kindly walked away and left us alone. We're having a very pleasant day." Her tone was one of forced politeness. She was, it seemed, just as angry that the woman had upset Scorpius as he was.

"You're rather stay with this Death Eater and his evil spawn?"

Draco looked at Scorpius then, who was rubbing his eyes to try and stop himself from crying. "My son hasn't done anything wrong." he protested, finally feeling the need to speak to the woman.

"He's got your blood," the woman said, looking down her nose at him. "He's bound to be just as evil as the rest of your family."

"You're out of line," Granger said, standing up so she was on the same level as the other witch. "You're harassing a three year-old child. Who, tell me, is honestly the monster in this situation?" The woman balked at her, and Granger took that as her opportunity to grab her bag and put their things inside it. Draco wasn't sure how she fit everything inside it, but he wouldn't be surprised if she had an extension charm on it. "Let's go." she said, kneeling down for a moment to wipe away Scorpius' tears. He held out his arms so she picked him up again, sent one last angry look at the woman, and proudly marched out of the shop.

Draco followed, shocked and outraged by what had happened. They quickly found themselves in an alley. Granger had set Scorpius down again and was trying to soothe him, but he was sobbing uncontrollably now. "W-Why did she say my Daddy's bad?" he asked, and Draco's heart broke. He hadn't told his son about why people glared at them on the street, but now it seemed he would have to. "W-Why did she say that I'm bad? A-Am I bad, Miss Mione?"

"No," she said gently. "No, Scorpius, you're not bad. You could never be bad. You're too good; there's nothing but goodness inside of you."

He was still crying though, and he turned to hold his arms out to Draco instead. Draco immediately picked him up and held him tightly, rubbing circles into his back in an attempt to calm him down. "D-Daddy…"

"I know," he said softly. "I'm sorry, Scorpius. I'm so, so sorry. Let's go home, okay? Say goodbye to your friend."

Scorpius waved weakly at her before putting his arms around Draco's neck once again. "I'm sorry," Granger said softly. "If I'd known that was going to happen…"

"Don't," Draco said. He wasn't angry at her, though his tone was anything but friendly. "It's fine. Just...Send his things over later."

She nodded, and Draco quickly apparated. Once in the safety of their home, he promised Scorpius repeatedly that he wouldn't be a bad person and that Draco wasn't a bad person either.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Hermione felt sick, and not just because she'd spent all night throwing up every two hours. She felt sick because of what happened the previous day at the ice cream shop. She despised the woman who'd come up to her-Hermione didn't know who she was but she wouldn't hesitate to hex the woman if she ever spotted her again. How someone could come up and say terrible things about a child was beyond her intelligence; children should be off limits. Scorpius Malfoy was only three and a half years old, and someone woman wanted to tell him that he was evil? He colored pictures for his father that decorated the walls of their home. That was not, she knew, something that evil people did.

She'd been tempted to hand deliver Scorpius' things but she didn't want to force herself on either or them. Draco Malfoy could take care of his son and make things better; Hermione was just a friend. She didn't need to push herself on them. She didn't really have the right to do so, but it would all be okay. She would see Scorpius again in a few nights-Malfoy didn't work nights very often-and she would make sure to see how he was doing. Hopefully he would decide that the woman had been wrong and go back to being his bubbly self, but Hermione was worried it wouldn't exactly go that way.

She remembered being a child, not quite as young as Scorpius, but trying to to make friends and getting rejected. It stung every time, and she'd been withdrawn a bit in her childhood. It wasn't pleasant, and it had taken her a long time to regain the confidence she'd had for the first five or six years of her childhood. Hermione didn't want that for Scorpius; she wanted him to stay happy like he had been before.

A few owls came to deliver mail throughout the day. A small part of her wanted to believe that she was going to get a letter from Draco Malfoy to update her on Scorpius, but no such letter came. In fact, as the week progressed, she only had radio silence from him. She tried to put thoughts about that out of her mind, but that was easier said than done.

One thing that did help put the thoughts out of her mind was her hunt through unpacked boxes. She was trying to find one that would fit her better, because her breasts seemed to be growing faster than she'd remembered and her bra didn't fit well anymore. It was frustrating, but it had happened when she was pregnant with Rose too, and she should have seen it coming. Hermione wasn't sure if she had kept any of the larger bras, her pregnancy bras after Rose was born because she hadn't wanted to be pregnant anymore. She hadn't wanted to deal with losing another baby, and she'd thrown out almost everything that reminded her of her pregnancy.

Hermione pulled out a bra triumphantly. She'd been smart enough to keep at least one, it seemed, and even though it was a few years old she thought it would work better than the one she'd worn lately. "You could calm it down," Hermione mumbled, glancing down at her chest and sighing. "But you can't. Merlin…"

She finished getting ready. It was a Thursday and she was, as far as she knew, still watching Scorpius that night for Draco Malfoy. All she had to do was get through the day-she loved her new job, but it was demanding and she worked more than most other people trying to accurately do her job. She wanted the same kind of recognition she'd had before, because recognition made her feel like she really was doing a good job. She shouldn't be so worried about the opinions of others, but she prided herself on her ability to do her job well and recognition was a part of that.

The day was long. Harry came into her office for lunch, as per usual, and asked her about Ron and if she'd talked to a doctor yet. He always peppered her with questions and Hermione didn't mind talking to him about most of them, but she was getting more and more frustrated with Ron. They weren't even divorced yet and she'd heard him mention marrying Vanessa when she'd been in Diagon Alley a few days ago. He should wait, in her opinion, but she couldn't exactly tell him what to do anymore.

When he left she went back to work. She had meetings with other witches and wizards, and she filled out paperwork and generally felt irritated because she wanted to go home. Finally though she finished for the day. She went outside and caught the Knight Bus, riding to Draco Malfoy's house and gladly getting off after the crazy ride she endured. She still hated the Knight Bus but it was growing on her slightly. Maybe it was just the good memories she'd had on the bus recently, but that was just speculation.

She knocked on the door, hoping that Draco Malfoy wouldn't shut her out and leave her standing on the porch like an idiot. It took a few minutes, but someone finally answered. "Granger? What are you doing here?"

"I have the date right, correct? I thought I was supposed to watch Scorpius tonight?"

"I forgot to tell you; I got my shift moved to tomorrow during the day. I don't need you to watch him anymore. I should have remembered, I'm sorry, but you can go home now."

Hermione bit her lip, trying not to seem too discouraged. "I'm...Maybe I could just say hello to Scorpius? I don't want him to think I don't want to see him or anything like that."

"Granger, that's really not necessary. You should go back to your apartment; I've got everything under control."

She nodded slightly, dejected, and turned to walk away. As she did, she heard someone from inside the house shout, "Malfoy, you'd better hurry up and finish getting ready for your date-you've got to leave in ten minutes."

Hermione didn't bother to turn around. It wasn't important that she did, and it wasn't really any of her business. She was upset that he didn't seem to want her around Scorpius anymore, but she couldn't really do anything about that either. She was just a random person; she didn't have any claim to him or anything like that. "Granger-" Malfoy said, but she just shook her head and hurried away.

She got back on the bus, confused about why she was so upset. She told herself it was just because she'd been looking forward to seeing Scorpius again, but she felt odd for saying that and she knew it was only part of the reason. There was some part of her that was upset Draco Malfoy hadn't bothered to tell her not to come, and another very tiny part that was upset he was just going out.

The thought prompted her to go to Harry and Ginny's house, frustrated and determined. She knocked on the door and Ginny opened it, her smile fading at the look on Hermione's face. "What's wrong?"

"I need you to set me up."

"Set you-What?"

"Ginny, please," Hermione said. She had half a mind to tell her about what had just happened, but she opted to say, "Ron's still with Vanessa. If he's getting out there, I should try too. I'm going to be a divorced mother in nine months. I should at least try to go on one date before I swell up."

"I'm...I'm not completely sure you're in the right frame of mind for a date, Hermione. You're in the process of leaving your husband, and I know you're upset but you're not the type of person to just bounce around from guy to guy."

"You wanted to set me up with Draco Malfoy a couple of weeks ago," Hermione said stubbornly. "What's so different now?"

"Hermione, I was messing around. I...I'm not sure…"

"Ginny please," Hermione said, pleading softly. "Please, just set me up?"

"Did something happen?"

"I already told you-"

"Not with Ron. Did something happen with someone else that prompted this?"

Hermione followed her arms across her chest. "I'm supposed to watch Scorpius when Draco Malfoy has to work nights; do you remember me telling you that?" Ginny nodded slightly and Hermione continued with her story. "Well I got there tonight to pick Scorpius up, and I got told that I didn't need to watch him anymore. I mean, _fine._ You could have the bloody _decency_ to let me know beforehand, but find. I thought he just wanted to spend a bit of time with his son. Well, then someone from inside said he needed to hurry and get ready for his date. I'm assuming that means whoever was inside is going to watch Scorpius, which means Malfoy doesn't want me to, but I don't know why. I'm perfectly capable of watching his son while he goes on a date."

"Can I ask why that's making you want to go out?" Ginny asked, a smirk forming on her lips.

"I-I figure if everyone else is going out and having fun, then I should too."

"Are you sure that's it?"

"Confident," Hermione said. "I want to get out there and have a nice time. Please, Ginny, please help me?"

Ginny shook her head slightly but opened the door a bit wider so Hermione could come inside the house. "There's a nice man at the Daily Prophet you might get along with. I'll talk to him tomorrow. You're sure you want to do this?"

"Positive. Thank you, Ginny. Don't...Maybe don't mention this to Harry?"

"I'll wait until the third date," she said, grinning at Hermione. "I'll send you a note tomorrow with all of the information. You should stay here for a bit though. I feel like I haven't seen you since you moved into your flat. Harry comes home every night talking about his lunch with you and I never get to talk to you."

Hermione sighed softly and said, "I'm sorry about that, Ginny. Everything's been crazy what with me changing my job and, you know, being pregnant. I haven't really talked to any of our friends recently."

"Well, I would say we should have a glass of wine, but that feels irresponsible. So, tea? Maybe hot chocolate?"

Hermione smiled and nodded. "That sounds good. How's your morning sickness?" Hermione asked as Ginny started making tea. "I know it was pretty bad for a while."

"Two whole weeks of constant vomit," Ginny said, shuddering slightly. "Merlin it was terrible. The boys weren't anything like this. Part of me is wondering if that means I'm having a girl; Mum said she got really sick with me and less so with my brothers."

Hermione grinned. "You never know. I was hardly sick the first time but I get sick at least three times a day, at the least."

"I want a girl," Ginny said. "I mean I'd love to have another son, I love the boys so much, but...It would just be really nice to have a girl, you know?"

Hermione nodded slightly. "I understand. It would be nice to have another niece."

Ginny smiled as she set a cup of tea down in front of Hermione. They sat and drank their tea, chatting and laughing as they did so. Hermione started to feel better about everything that had happened that day, which was a surprising feat when she'd been so upset before. She hated the fact that she'd been so upset; it didn't matter that she wasn't watching Scorpius. What mattered was that Scorpius was taken care of, and that everyone was happy.

Hermione left Ginny's house after a few hours. She was happy to have spent time with her friend, but she was getting tired and she wanted to take some time to read and do a bit of paperwork she'd brought home that night. She had things to look over and that, she knew, should get done before she went back to work.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

All he'd wanted was for Blaise to set him up with someone. He'd wanted to be set up with some gorgeous witch that would get him back in the game. He could have sworn he'd sent Granger a note to say that he didn't need her to watch after Scorpius that night, but apparently he'd made that up. So she'd showed up and he'd tried to force her away, feeling like he needed to hide what he was doing from her. Which, he knew, was completely ridiculous because she wouldn't care about what he did with his free time. She did, however, seem to care that he'd wasted her time. He'd meant to apologize, but she'd walked away without letting him explain anything.

The date had gone terribly. The woman was a complete airhead; Draco had half a mind to hex his friend when he got back home, but that wouldn't be a good thing for the kids to see. So instead he sat quietly throughout the entire ordeal, frustrated and wishing that he could just leave but not wanting to be rude. The woman had been kind enough to go out with a Death Eater, and Draco didn't want her to think too badly of him. He still couldn't give a good reason as to why he'd decided to ask for the date in the first place. Some part of him thought it was to take his mind off something, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what he needed to forget.

Draco decided to blame Granger for the poor quality of the date. He was the reason he hadn't been able to enjoy himself. In the past he wouldn't have minded getting dinner with someone like Samantha, the woman he'd gone out with, but she didn't have any quips or snarky remarks like Granger or Astoria. Astoria had never had as many as Granger, and considering Granger was the person he'd spent the most time with as of late, blaming her felt like it was the right thing to do. Which was why, when he got home after a lousy night and having to tell Samantha that no, he would not be writing to her, Draco found himself downing a glass of firewhiskey. He was angry and bitter after everything that had happened, but it wasn't anyone's fault except for his. He was the one who suddenly had standards higher than a pretty blonde haired girl who liked to touch his arm and smile at him. Before he'd gotten married he would have taken the witch home, fooled around a bit, and then send her home in the morning.

He started to get drunk after a couple of glasses, which he knew was bad. He needed to work around ten the next morning, and he couldn't exactly be hungover when he was at work. But he couldn't stop; he just kept pouring himself more glasses. Scorpius was staying at Blaise's house and he wouldn't really notice that Draco had one too many drinks.

When the bottle was halfway gone and he was thoroughly drunk, Draco got up from the kitchen table. He wanted to confront the person that had caused his latest problem, and that meant he had to find his way to Hermione Granger's flat. He knew where it was, at least, and that was a relief considering he didn't think apparating there was going to do him any good. He was leaving for the front door when he noticed that one of Scorpius' drawings had fallen off the wall. Draco frowned at it, irritated that it was ruining his plan to go confront Hermione Granger. But he walked over to pick it up and stuck it back on the wall, turning around to see the sofa behind him. It looked comfortable, he realized, so he walked over to it and laid down.

Within moments he was asleep, passed out fully dressed on the sofa in the family room. It wasn't particularly comfortable, but he stayed passed out for the entire night. He woke up about to panic at nine in the morning. He was supposed to pick up Scorpius at half past nine and he needed to work at ten, and he had to get ready for the day. He also had to deal with the major headache he'd developed. He wanted nothing more than to just go back to sleep, but that wasn't in the cards for him.

Draco hurried off the sofa and climbed into the shower, hoping that it would keep him feeling clean for the long day or work he had ahead of him. He put on his robes and apparated to Blaise's house. He was nearly fifteen minutes late, but Blaise didn't seem to care. Scorpius was happy to see him, and that made Draco smile slightly. The previous night had been disastrous, but at least his son was glad to see him. "Daddy, are we going to spend the day together?" Scorpius asked, a hopeful smile on his face.

"Daddy has to work, remember?" Draco said, watching Scorpius frown. "You're going to spend the day at the hospital; I know it's not your favorite, but it'll be okay. After we'll spend some time together; we can play a game."

"Can we go and see Miss Mione?" Scorpius asked. Draco sighed slightly and glanced at Blaise, who was smirking slightly. "Daddy?"

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

"But she's my friend."

"I know, but if we wanted to see her then we should have made a plan in advance. You'll just have to wait until it's time to spend the night with her again."

"But Daddy, I don't want to wait. I want to see her now."

"I know, Scorpius, but you have to wait. I can't change that."

Scorpius pouted and folded his little arms across his chest. "Then I'm not going to the hospital. I don't want to."

"Scorpius-"

"No, I don't wanna go!" Scorpius said.

Draco wasn't sure what to say; he wasn't used to his son throwing a tantrum, but that seemed to be what Scorpius was doing. "You don't really have a choice."

"I don't wanna!" Scorpius said, shaking his head. "I won't!"

"Scorpius, don't do this right now."

"I don't wanna go! I wanna see Miss Mione!"

"Scorpius-"

His son started crying then, and Draco felt embarrassed and scared. If he couldn't get Scorpius calmed down then he wouldn't be able to get to work on time. "Don't do this, Scorpius," Draco instructed quietly. "I'll send her a note to see if you can see her sooner, but I can't guarantee anything. You need to calm down, Scorpius, please. I don't know what else I can possibly say to you right now to make you calm down."

Scorpius sniffled and rubbed his eyes slightly. "P-Promise you'll write?"

"I promise, yeah, okay." Draco said, sighing heavily.

Scorpius nodded and hugged Draco tightly. "I'm sorry, Daddy."

"We don't throw tantrums," Draco said quietly. "Remember? Tantrums aren't okay."

"I know, Daddy," Scorpius whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Let's get to the hospital, okay? The sooner we're there, the sooner we leave."

His son nodded so Draco found himself apparating to the hospital. It wasn't overly busy that day, which was a relief, though he did wish that he had more things to do. Soon enough he was bored and sitting at a desk doing paperwork to try and pass the time. He did decide to send a note to Hermione Granger, but only because he'd promised Scorpius that he would. He still felt oddly upset with her, which made no sense, and he had a feeling she wasn't exactly thrilled with him either. But he'd do anything to make his son happy, and if that meant writing Hermione Granger then he would write Hermione Granger.

It was a few hours before he got a response. Her note was short; she was busy with work, but she had free time before her date on Saturday night if Scorpius wanted to drop by. Draco was shocked that the fact that she had a date, but he couldn't really blame her considering he'd gone on one the night before. He sent her a reply saying they'd drop by the next day so Scorpius could see her. Soon after that the amount of people coming in picked up for some reason, and Draco was busy once again.

He was exhausted when his shift was finally finished. Draco wanted nothing more than to just go to bed, because sleep sounded better than anything else at the moment. It was just past Scorpius' bedtime, but Draco had promised him that they could play a game together and Draco intended to keep his promise. He found Scorpius coloring in the day care center, stubbornly refusing to put on pajamas and try getting some rest. Draco appreciated the stubborn quality in his son from time to time. But every now and again, when he was completely exhausted and just wanted to have things work without a fight, Scorpius' stubborn nature made everything worse.

They made their way home. Scorpius picked out a game to play, but by the time they got it set up he was already falling asleep. Draco carried him up to bed, glad that he could get some rest as well. Most people would tell him that he needed to eat something before going to bed, but Draco wasn't hungry. He was also too tired to cook, so eating wasn't really something he could do at that point in time. Instead he just walked up to his bedroom, collapsing on the bed after changing out of his robes and into something more comfortable. He passed out on the bed. Draco didn't dream, but he was okay with that. Dreams just led him into bad places, and he didn't want to be in any bad places when he had Scorpius to look after.

When he woke the next morning he felt relieved. It had only been a few hours, which was his normal sleeping time, but it felt good to be back on his regular schedule. Scorpius wasn't awake, which was good because he didn't want Scorpius to ever be up quite as early as him. He never wanted Scorpius to go through what he had. He wanted Scorpius to have a happy life; he wanted his son to make good choices and to be a good person. Draco wasn't sure if he was the best influence on Scorpius, but he was the only person his son had.

Draco went downstairs to the kitchen to start making breakfast. He wanted to make Scorpius something he would enjoy, seeing as his son hadn't gotten to have the happiest of days recently. Scorpius would love to get a nice breakfast; he usually felt special when Draco did something nice for him. Draco always tried to do something to make his son smile, but he failed more often than not and that was upsetting to him. He hated failing his son; he hated doing anything that jeopardized his son's faith in him.

Scorpius came wandering down the stairs as Draco was just finishing up cooking. His son grinned and hurried over to hug him, and Draco was reminded that he didn't always do everything wrong. Scorpius still loved him; Scorpius would always love him even if he messed up. "Thank you, Daddy." Scorpius said softly, smiling slightly up at Draco. Draco patted his shoulder before directing him toward the table where he could sit and eat.

"We're going to go and see your friend today." Draco said, hoping to surprise him and make him smile. "We can't see her for long, but she misses you too."

Scorpius grinned at him, immediately looking excited. "I get to see Miss Mione? I love Miss Mione!"

"I know. I thought you'd like getting the chance to see her."

"Thank you, Daddy. I miss her. I wanna stay with her again."

"You will, later this week I think," Draco said, "I think she's going to watch you on Monday night-maybe Thursday?"

"Daddy?" Scorpius asked. "Which day is it?"

Draco shrugged. He was tired and his head hurt, and he couldn't remember exactly when he was going to bring Scorpius over to Hermione Granger's flat. "I'm not sure, Scorpius, I'm sorry. I'll make sure to tell you tonight, okay?"

Scorpius nodded and happily dug into his breakfast. Draco watched him with a slight smile for a couple of minutes before he started eating some of his own breakfast. He didn't feel very hungry, but he knew that refraining from eating would be unhealthy and he didn't want to get sick. Scorpius had been around enough sickness in his short life to have to go through it again.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Hermione stared at her hand, examining her ring finger. It felt weird, not wearing her wedding ring. She couldn't remember the last time she'd really taken it off, but now it was gone. She couldn't exactly wear her wedding band on a date; it was a bad way to start things off. Yet even though she was furious with Ron, she felt like a piece of her was missing with it off. She felt like she was somehow betraying him by taking it off and going out with another man. Then again, she'd found him sleeping with a younger woman, so betrayal was something he did better than her.

She sighed heavily, setting the ring on her nightstand. She needed to stop wearing it; she wasn't really married anymore; she and Ron were a month into the divorce process, and while it was going smoothly, it did mean that in a few months time, she would be legally single once again. It had been hard enough to find Ron, she knew, which meant she was fairly certain she'd spend the rest of her life alone. But that was why she needed to date; she wasn't good at finding relationships on her own. It was the one thing Hermione was frequently stupid about, and it bothered her. Ginny would help though; Ginny wouldn't let her end up alone.

Hermione smoothed her dress, relieved that she wasn't showing yet. She couldn't think of many people who'd want to swing into a relationship with a pregnant woman, but if they didn't know then going on one date wouldn't hurt anyone. This, she thought, was more of a practice than anything else. Hermione hadn't been on a first date in a long time, and she needed to practice.

She walked out of her bedroom while putting on an earring. She still had a few minutes to spare, so she straightened up a bit. Scorpius and Draco Malfoy had been over a little over an hour ago. Scorpius had colored some more, things she could hang on her refrigerator because he claimed her flat wasn't interesting enough on its own. She'd just smiled and gotten everything out for him. He'd left before cleaning up, as Draco had whisked him away when he realized how late it had gotten.

Hermione sighed again. She felt more awkward with the Malfoys than she had before. Maybe it was because she was worried Draco Malfoy didn't trust her with his son anymore, or maybe it was because she was angry at him for not telling her about Thursday night. Either way, she had been stiff and too formal with him. She'd been normal with Scorpius, as normal as she could be towards a boy she'd only known a month, but he didn't seem to realize that anything was off and that was Hermione's true intention.

There was a knock at her door which broke up her thoughts. Hermione checked herself once in a mirror before hurrying toward the door and pulling it open, smiling. Her smile slipped though, as she saw her husband standing in front of her, arms folded across his chest and an angry expression on his face.

"You're going out then? It's true?" he asked, disbelief in his voice.

Hermione's eyes narrowed immediately. "It is. How did you hear about it?"

"Ginny let it slip when I was over today. You're going with some bloke from the Daily Prophet?"

"I am." she said defensively.

"Are you really that stupid?" Ron asked, and Hermione saw red.

"Excuse me?" she asked, her voice strained.

"Are you really going to give away to the whole world what's happening? You think this man won't use whatever you say to him as a story? You think he won't be interested in knowing why you're going out with him and not your _husband_?"

Hermione stared at him in shock. "Are you...Are you honestly trying to hide what's happening? What, did you think I would just stay alone the rest of my life so no one would be suspicious and think that we were split up?"

"Exactly!" Ron shouted, trying to get into her flat. Hermione blocked him, slipping her wand into her hand. "Do you have any idea how _bad_ it would be for me to have the rest of the world find out? The store would lose business, I would get harassed-"

"Oh what a _pity_ ," Hermione said furiously. "Maybe you should have thought about the consequences before you went and _fucked your store's help_!"

" _Hermione_ -"

"Oh, no," she said, her volume rising as she became more frustrated. " _No_. I'm not going to spend my life hiding because _you_ messed up and don't want anyone to know about. _You_ are the reason this is happening, not me. You're the one who saw a pretty girl and couldn't keep your hands to yourself!"

"Hermione!" Ron yelled, looking angry.

" _Fuck you_ , Ron Weasley. Do you hear me? _Fuck you_. Get the _hell_ away from me!" she shouted, pushing him backwards. When he didn't move she aimed her wand at his chest. "Go. _Now_."

With her wand out, Ron seemed to take her seriously. He scowled at her before turning on the spot and disappearing. Hermione slammed her door shut, breathing heavily, positively furious with him. How _dare_ he come and tell her that she couldn't move on with her life? After what he'd done, _she_ was the one that was supposed to suffer? There was another knock on her door then, and Hermione groaned, remembering that she still had to go out. She didn't want to, not after fighting with Ron, but she didn't think she had much of a choice. So she opened the door. A vaguely familiar man stood in front of her with a slight smile.

"Hermione Granger?" he asked, his voice deep and calming.

"You must be David," Hermione said, forcing herself to smile at him. There was no reason why he should face the brunt of her anger; it was Ron who'd upset her, not him. "It's nice to meet you."

"You as well," he said, extending his hand for her to shake. "Shall we go to the restaurant then? I'm sure you'll enjoy the food."

"That would be lovely, thank you." she said, half of her mind still brooding over what had happened with Ron. The other half, though, took notice of the fact that the man in front of her was extremely handsome. His deep voice was accompanied by dirty blond hair and light hazel eyes. He was tall and seemed to have a nice build, and Hermione noticed that he had creases by his eyes, most likely from smiling.

With that thought in mind, she followed him down the street a ways to a muggle restaurant near the ministry. It wasn't overly fancy, which Hermione appreciated, but it was still nice. She had never bothered to go inside before, but she was glad to be there with a nice man. And David really did seem to be nice; he laughed when she said something vaguely funny. He seemed interested in her work and was polite enough not to pepper her with questions about Harry the whole time, which a colleague had done on a work lunch when she was twenty-five.

After they ate they wandered around for a big, just talking. Hermione asked about his work at the Daily Prophet and what he was currently working on. It was, apparently, an interesting story on a few unexplained deaths that seemed to be connected. Hermione was intrigued, but didn't ask more about it. Talking about murders didn't sit well with her, not since the war, and while she could handle it at work she didn't want to talk about it when she was away from the ministry. Around nine that night he walked her back to her flat.

She stopped at her door and turned to face him with a slight smile on her face. "It was really nice talking with you tonight. We should do it again sometime."

"I'd like that," he said, smiling back at her. In the dim lighting it didn't look nearly as friendly as it had earlier. "But do we have to stop this night? It's gone so well."

"I should get to bed," Hermione said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Besides, I have a lot to do tomorrow, which means I should get a fair amount of sleep. And I wouldn't want to keep you much longer; it's getting late."

"I could stay over," he said, his smile growing. "We can go inside and have a nightcap; I'm sure that's not too much to ask."

"I'm not drinking right now." Hermione said stiffly. She didn't like where this was going, not at all.

"I didn't mean alcohol," he whispered, swooping down to kiss her. Hermione reacted instinctively; it took her a moment to get her wand in her hand. She cast a spell without really thinking about what it would do, and saw his arms transform into fins. "What the hell!" he yelled, springing away from her. "What did you do to me?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes, her heart pounding in her chest. "Don't try and take advantage of women. I could have done worse."

"Damn you-Put my arms back!"

"Apologize for your behavior and swear to never come back." Hermione challenged, straightening up to seem taller.

"I- _Sorry_ -I'm never coming near you again, you bloody insane witch-now put my arms back!" His face was turning red from anger, and Hermione frowned before making another motion with her wand to put his arms right. There was a tense moment while the waited, but nothing happened. Hermione frowned and made the motion again, but the fins remained. "You _bitch_!" he yelled, storming over to her. With tiny fins for arms though, he wasn't really that scary, and Hermione just kept her wand leveled at his chest. "Put them back!" he shouted.

"I'll have to take you to St. Mungos," she said. "They'll be able to set this right."

Without waiting for his approval, Hermione put her hand on his shoulder and apparated. They landed in the waiting area, which was mostly empty except for a small group of people gathered in the corner of the room. Hermione didn't pay them any attention and instead brought David to the welcome witch. "There was an incident," she explained, "and I need help putting his arms back."

The witch looked up, bored, and narrowed her eyes. "Right, this guy," she muttered. "It's not the first time he's come in, some part of his body messed up. Let me guess, he tried to kiss you without your approval?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked at him. He was a bright red, and she sighed and shook her head. "I'm guessing the friend that set me up was unaware of his track record. That is, by the way, what happened."

The witch glared at David, who was glaring at Hermione. "You know where to go, for Merlin's sake, stop standing in front of me." He left with a sigh and the witch turned to Hermione once again. "Word of advice? Don't let that friend set you up again."

Hermione grinned slightly. "I'll be having a talk with her about it tomorrow. Do you mind if I wait here just to make sure his arms can be put back properly?"

"Be my guest," the witch said. "Most people that bring him in run straight out, but there's no reason why you can't wait."

Hermione nodded and walked over to a chair, sitting down and rubbing her face with her hands. Maybe dating wasn't something she really wanted to do right now. She could wait; it felt wrong to date when she was technically married anywhere, no matter what Ron was doing with Vanessa. She sighed heavily and reached into her bag, searching around for a moment before pulling a book out. She released her hair from the bun she'd put it in and started reading. It always helped her calm down, and she didn't like feeling as angry as she did in that moment. Hermione was definitely going to give Ginny a piece of her mind when she saw her the next day. Ginny would be horrified when she leaned would had happened, and would probably hex her coworker. Hermione wouldn't be upset if she did.

After about thirty minutes she still hadn't seen him come out, which was a bit unnerving. Maybe her spell, whatever it was, had been a little too powerful and the fins were sticking. She sighed and looked at the book again. After about three minutes, she felt someone tug on the edge of her dress. She looked down and was shocked to see Scorpius Malfoy. "Miss Mione," he whispered. "Miss-"

"Scorpius, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked worriedly. "Where's your father?"

"Can you make him feel better, Miss Mione? Something happened and now he's sad and I can't make him happy again."

"What happened?"

He shrugged and yawned. "Daddy woke me up and said we had to go to the hospital, but he's not working. Can you come make him feel better?" Hermione nodded, letting Scorpius take her hand and lead her across the room. She didn't know how she'd missed seeing Draco Malfoy's pale hair, but she had. Either way, he was sitting with his head in his hands, tense, waiting for something bad to happen. "Daddy?" Scorpius said softly. "Daddy I brought Miss Mione; can she make you happy again?"

Draco Malfoy looked up then, surprise taking control of his face. "Scorpius, what-Granger, what are you doing here?"

"My date went...badly, to say the least. What are _you_ doing here?"

He just sighed heavily and shook his head. He didn't speak for a few moments, and Hermione was worried something had gone terribly wrong. "My mother is sick," he said eventually, his voice quiet. "And it's not looking good."

Without asking if she could, Hermione took the seat next to him. They didn't touch each other, but she hoped that her presence could help somewhat.


	20. Chapter Twenty

It had been a disastrous night, as far as Draco was concerned. And that had been before seeing Granger at St. Mungos. To be fair, his night had been decent until about eight. He'd just sent Scorpius to bed-his son had been exhausted-and had been enjoying the quiet of the house when a note had come flying in the window. Draco had opened it begrudgingly, recognizing his father's handwriting. Draco didn't want anything to do with his father, especially since he'd shown up announced to Draco's house. He had no interest in getting mixed up with some hate group like his father wanted; he had his son to think about, his job, and the fact that he didn't want to hurt people.

Still, his father didn't send him letters all that often, so Draco tore the envelope open, a frown already on his face. When he read what was written, however, he sprinted up the stairs and shook Scorpius awake. His son had barely opened his eyes before Draco had apparated to the hospital. When he'd gotten there he'd been forced to sit in the waiting area. His father was missing, and he couldn't go back to see his mother because he would probably yell at whatever healer was working on her. So he'd been made to sit with the knowledge that his mother had collapsed and was unresponsive, with no actual explanation as to why.

Scorpius had laid on his lap, drifting in and out of sleep while they waited. Draco had rubbed his back but that was all he could do; he couldn't make himself speak. He was scared; his mother was a good woman, she had her faults but she was still good. She had protected him throughout his entire life, and now she was sick and he couldn't help her. It was his job to help sick people, and he couldn't do anything for his own mother.

Every now and then his son patted his face and tried to make him smile, but Draco couldn't manage to smile for Scorpius. Eventually Scorpius climbed off his lap and Draco put his hands in his hair to keep them from shaking. He could lose his mother, and it didn't matter to anyone except for him. Scorpius didn't know well enough to understand what was happening, he just knew they were at the hospital.

That was when he'd brought Granger over. Draco wasn't entirely sure how he'd missed her coming in, but all the sudden she was standing in front of him. Some small part of him was glad she was there. She could take care of Scorpius and he could sit quietly in his seat and focus on how he was probably going to lose his mother.

He spoke, just for a moment. Then she sat down next to him, Scorpius climbing on to her lap and resting his head on her, and Draco turned to look at her in surprise. "I'll stay with you," she said quietly, and Draco was surprised to feel himself nod. "Do you want to talk about it? What happened?"

"She collapsed," Draco said quietly. He couldn't believe that he was sharing the story with her, but he couldn't make himself stop. "She collapsed, and she's unconscious. I don't know what's wrong, they won't let me back to see her and to see what's wrong. A healer came out a bit ago and said there wasn't much progress. If I could just get back there, I could figure it out. I know I could."

"Muggle doctors don't like family working on family either," she said quietly. "It's just...It can lead to problems. So I understand. And...I'm sorry this is happening. I know you're close to your mother."

He sighed and said, "Not really, not anymore. Can we not discuss this? Tell me how your date went badly."

She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Merlin, it was bad. Well actually, it was good. It was really good. He was a perfect gentleman. He was kind and he listened and he seemed really interested in my work. And then he walked me home and wanted to come in, and he made a move on me and I...may have reacted negatively."

Draco raised an eyebrow, her story a welcome distraction from his negative thoughts. "How negatively?"

"Well I pulled out my wand and...I don't know what spell I used, I wasn't really thinking, but...I may have...turned his arms into little fish fins."

Draco laughed, actually laughed, as she turned a light shade of red. "You turned a man's arms into _fins_?" She nodded and he laughed again. Scorpius opened his eyes and smiled before cuddling into Granger's chest. "Was his name, by _any_ chance, David Wilson?"

She looked shocked. "How-How on earth did you know?"

"Merlin, Granger, you need better taste. That man comes in here every now and then, usually with some part of his body transfigured into something else. Everyone knows him here. Usually some woman brings him in and they leave straight away. I never blame them. He's not a bad man, not really, he just...Is bad once he's attracted to someone."

"Oh Merlin," Hermione muttered, horrified at the thought. "I'm never letting Ginny set me up again. That was a huge mistake."

He nodded slightly, his mind going back to his mother. He sobered slightly, and looked away from her and toward the ground. She didn't speak for a while and instead just sat next to him, holding Scorpius and rubbing his back every now and then. He was slightly surprised by how good she was with his son, but he wasn't sure why that had surprised him. Granger had been good with Scorpius ever since they met.

It was another half an hour before anything happened. Granger dozed off next to him, Scorpius still curled on top of her, and Draco felt relieved that his son had somewhere safe to be. But someone approached him, and Draco looked up to see his father. His stomach dropped and he stood, stepping in front of Granger and Scorpius.

"What did they say? Will she be alright?" Draco asked, his voice stiff. "Father?"

"What is this _mudblood_ doing holding your son?" he asked, his teeth clenched.

"How is Mother?" Draco asked again, trying to stay calm. He didn't want to start a shouting match with his father in the middle of the waiting area. This was his place a work, and he didn't need to give them a reason to fire him.

"Sick," his father answered stiffly. "Get that boy away from that mudblood."

Draco looked behind him to see Granger starting to stir. "Stop. Can I go to see her now?"

"Not until you get _her_ away from your son."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "I said stop. Is she awake? Will she be okay?"

" _Get that mud_ -"

"Mudblood?"a voice said, and Draco glanced to his left to see Granger. She'd set Scorpius down on one of the chairs, and was now standing next to him, her arms folded across her chest. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but that is what you wanted to say, yes?"

Draco stared at her, shocked. He would never dream of talking to his father like that. He would never dream of truly challenging his father. "What are you doing?" he whispered, looking at her like she was crazy.

She just narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before returning her gaze to his father. She raised an eyebrow and repeated herself. "That was your intention, right? To insult me?"

"How dare you speak to me like that," his father said angrily. "You filthy-"

"Mudblood?" she guessed. Draco wondered if she liked saying the word, because she kept stealing it from his father. And he could tell that fact was infuriating the man, because his father looked ready to kill. "Yes, we've established that's what I am. Now-"

"I've tortured you once, woman, I'll do it again." he said, threatening her. Draco wanted to stop his words, but he couldn't. He was frozen, afraid of what was happening, and worried about what his father would do to him and Granger for what she'd done.

Granger, on the other hand, didn't seem to be afraid. "Unless I'm mistaken, you took no part in the torture. You stood there and watched-you told her to stop once or twice. It wasn't you who tortured me. Bellatrix Lestrange tortured me; she's the one who carved into my arm and used the Cruciatus Curse. I'm not afraid of you, Mr. Malfoy. You stood there pathetic and begging her to stop."

Draco watched his father raise a hand. Before Draco could do anything, he slapped Hermione Granger across the face, making her gasp loudly. The sound of his hand hitting her echoed around the room, and Scorpius stirred in his sleep but didn't completely wake up. Granger held her cheek and straightened up slightly. Draco recognized the expression on her face, and for a moment he couldn't place it but when she suddenly pulled her fist back, he knew exactly where he'd seen it before.

He grabbed her first before she could punch his father square in the nose. A small part of him wanted her to do it, but he didn't need to have a big fight in the middle of his workplace. "You-" his father started, grabbing his wand.

"Hey!" Draco said loudly. " _Hey_ , stop this. _Stop this_! You cannot go around hitting people. And she's _pregnant_ , father, you cannot go around smacking pregnant women!"

"This filth should be dead," his father muttered. "She should be dead, Draco, our kind should have killed her."

" _No_ ," Draco said angrily. "You have to stop this-do you want to go back to Azkaban? You'd die there, is that really what you want?"

His father glared at him and Draco stared back. "Keep the mudblood away from your son. And if I see her near him again-"

"You do realize my best friend is the head of the Auror Office, right?" Granger asked. "If I tell him about tonight and I end up getting hurt, who do you think he'll be investigating first?" Draco stared between his father and Hermione Granger, trying to figure out who would back down first. To his completely shock, it was his father who turned on his heel and disappeared back up the stairs, most likely to go and complain to his mother about what had just happened. Granger let out a long, relieved sigh, and Draco turned his attention to her. There was an angry red mark on her cheek, and she looked tense and almost afraid.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked after a minute. He grabbed his wand and pressed it to her cheek, erasing the mark. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone stand up to him like that."

"Did I just make things harder for you?" she asked, concern filling her voice. "I just wanted him to stop before he woke up Scorpius and Scorpius got upset again."

"I'll definitely be hearing about it later," he said, shaking his head slightly. "But don't worry about it. Thank you for trying to protect my son."

"Of course," she said. "Any time, really. Your son doesn't deserve to see that."

"Can you take him home with you?" Draco asked impulsively. "I...I should stay here, for my mother, but I don't want him around my father. Can you take him home? I can get him in the morning."

She nodded and said, "If you need anything just let me know. I'll have him up and ready by half past eight?"

Draco nodded too, scooping Scorpius up and handing him to Granger. "Thank you." he said. She just smiled before leaving with his son.

Draco sighed heavily and turned to look at the stairs. He noticed the witch at the front desk staring at him with a raise eyebrow, and Draco just shook his head at her. He quickly moved up the stairs, his feet directing him to the ward he thought his mother would be in. When he peeked inside he knew he was correct. His father was walking around his mother's bed, looking like he was ranting about something-probably Granger-and his mother looked pale and tired on the bed.

Draco pushed the door open and folded his arms across his chest. "Let her sleep, Father. She needs to rest."

His father whipped around to look at him. "How _dare_ you let that mudblood speak to me that way. You should have been the one to hit her, not me."

"Do I-Did you not hear me? She's pregnant, you _cannot go around hitting pregnant women_."

His father sneered at him. "So what if she's pregnant? A child of a blood traitor and a mudblood shouldn't get to live anyway. I can arrange for-"

"If you hurt her I swear-"

"Please," his mother said, her voice weak. "Please, stop this fighting. For one night, just stop this fighting. This is not the place."

"Where is your son?" his father asked, only just noticing that Scorpius wasn't there. "Draco-"

"I sent him home with Granger."

"You did _what_?"

"I sent him home with Granger," Draco said again. "They get along well, Scorpius adores her. She watched him sometimes if I need to stay at the hospital."

"You _foul_ -" his father stared, storming up to him. Before Draco could react, his father slapped him too. Draco's hand flew up to his cheek, and he stared at his father in disbelief.

" _Lucius_!" his mother yelled. "Stop!"

"You are not my son," his father said coldly. "Get out of my sight."

Draco glanced at his mother, who nodded, her eyes wide. So Draco turned and left the room with as much dignity as he could muster. He went home instead of going to Granger's flat, and poured himself a drink when he got there. The night was a disaster. And Draco had a feeling that the next few days would be even worse.


	21. Chapter Twenty-One

Hermione wondered how her life had gotten to this particular point in time. She could list the events that led her here, Ron cheating, going to St. Mungos, riding the Knight Bus, but she didn't understand why it had to happen to her. Hadn't she sacrificed enough throughout her life? Did she really owe the world more? Apparently the answer was yes. Hermione really just wanted to shout at the bloody world to leave her the hell alone.

She glanced at her sofa, which held a passed out Draco Malfoy. Scorpius was in the guest room, playing quietly. Harry was sitting at the kitchen table, looking concerned, and Ginny was next to him looking guilty. "Tell me again what happened?" Hermione asked, leaning against the counter and rubbing her temples.

Harry sighed softly and said, "The article came out with the morning paper. 'Hermione Granger: War Hero to Villain'. It...Had some details about your date, and that you were interacting with Lucius Malfoy-"

"But I wasn't interacting with him in a positive way," Hermione said furiously. "Did it say that? Because we didn't exactly exchange pleasantries."

"It also," Harry said, ignoring her, "mentioned that you were on a date with someone who wasn't your husband."

"My husband cheated on me," she said stiffly. "And if this is such a big deal, why aren't there any articles about Ron taking out Vanessa? They're out in public together all the time."

"Because Ron...Ron's not you, Hermione," Ginny said quietly. "What story is going to sell better: joke store owner cheats on wife or high ministry official cheats on husband?"

"But I didn't cheat on him!" Hermione protested furiously. She heard Draco shift on the sofa and she quieted down again, not wanting to disturb him. He'd come knocking on her door absolutely wasted around four that morning; he needed to sleep it off. "I didn't cheat on him. We're getting divorced. And I know David knew that."

"He's just bitter," Ginny said, still looking guilty. "He's bitter because of what happened with his arms."

"They put them back though," Hermione muttered. "And it's not like it's the first time that's happened to him. Which, by the way, Ginny, never set me up again. Okay?"

Her friend grinned slightly but it quickly fell away. "I know, Hermione, but he had a chance to drag your name through the dirt and he took it. It's like...Merlin, it's like he's the new Rita Skeeter."

"But she works for the Daily Prophet too," Hermione said. "Couldn't she stop this?"

"She's not exactly your biggest fan," Harry said. "You did keep her in a jar for a while, remember? My guess is she turned a blind eye to the article. She'll say she was unaware of the true facts and only knew what Wilson claimed."

Hermione folded her arms across her chest and sighed heavily. "Did your mother see it, Ginny?"

"She doesn't believe a word of it," Ginny said immediately. "And she expects you to come to dinner tonight."

Hermione let out a breath of relief. She had a lot of respect for Molly Weasley, and she wouldn't want Mrs. Weasley to think she'd treated Ron badly. "What about our friends?"

"Neville wrote this morning, remember? That's what tipped you off; he said he hoped you were okay and that you could get together soon and talk about what happened."

"I love Neville," Hermione muttered. "Luna's off somewhere with Rolf, but she wouldn't believe a word of it anyway. Have you heard anything from the department?"

"I sent someone to Wilson's house already," Harry said, "to make sure he stopped spreading rumors like this. As for the department, I think they just don't like attention being put on them. I don't think this is something you'll lose your job over."

Hermione nodded, partially relieved. "What about Ron?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about Ron, he's being a git."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely," Harry said. "I don't know what's going on with him; he was fine a few weeks ago and now he's acting like a child."

"Somehow I'm not surprised," Hermione said quietly. "Is there any way we can set the record straight?"

"You can do an interview," Ginny said, "People are likely to listen to you because of everything you've done. It wouldn't be wise to have me do it, they'd think I was being biased, but I can find someone I'm sure will write the truth."

"Okay," Hermione said with a heavy sigh. "How soon? I want this dealt with as quickly as possible."

"We can do it tomorrow over lunch," Harry said. "Ginny can find someone by then, and I'll sit in and make sure they don't do anything stupid."

Hermione nodded and rubbed her face with her hands. "I wish they could leave me alone for more than six months," she muttered, remembering all of the articles she'd been a part of in the last few years. The worst had been after Rose was born, when some reporter had accused her of sabotaging the pregnancy. Hermione had smacked the woman when she'd come to her for a comment on the story, which had prompted another report about how she was unstable. "I don't need this stress in my life right now."

"I know, Hermione," Harry said. "I'm sorry about this. I'm-"

"Miss Mione?"

Hermione turned around in her chair to see Scorpius standing behind her. His eyes were full of tears and he looked embarrassed. "What is it, Scorpius?" she asked gently, worried about what had upset him.

"Miss Mione, I had an accident," he said quietly, not looking at her anymore. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Hermione said, standing up and taking his hands. "We'll get you cleaned up and then you can go back to playing, okay? And soon we can make lunch together."

He nodded slightly, and she led him into the bathroom and away from her friends. It didn't take much to get him fresh again, and he hugged her tightly once she'd finished helping him. "I love you Miss Mione," he whispered against her legs. "I love you a lot."

Hermione felt a pang in her chest at his words. For a moment she imagined that her daughter was standing there, hugging her and saying those words, and it broke her heart when she remembered that Rose was dead and they would never get moments like these. "That's very sweet of you to say," Hermione said, leaning over to pick him up and give him a proper hug. "I love you too Scorpius. Now go play, okay? I'll come get you when it's time for lunch."

He nodded and she set him down again. He ran off to the guest room again, and Hermione wiped her eyes before going back out to Harry and Ginny. They were whispering to each other, and stopped when she came back to the table. "What are you two talking about?" she asked suspiciously.

"You...It's just, you haven't mentioned why Draco Malfoy is asleep on your sofa yet," Ginny said. Hermione rolled her eyes; Ginny was back to being herself. "You're sure you're not involved with him at all?"

"I watch his son from time to time," Hermione said, shaking her head at her friend. "Don't be ridiculous, Ginny."

"I'm not being ridiculous," she protested quietly, so she wouldn't wake him up. "But you two are around each other quite frequently now-"

"I watch his son; of course we're around each other frequently." she said.

"Hermione-" Harry said, smirking at her.

"Are you two ganging up on me?" she asked, surprised that Harry was involved in the conversation as well. "Seriously?"

"Well, if the shoe fits," Harry said. "Look, I'm not saying that anything should happen or will happen romantically, but-"

"He's on my bloody sofa," Hermione whispered. "Can we not do this right now?"

"He's not going to wake up," Ginny said confidently. "Oi, Malfoy, are you awake?"

There was no response from the sleeping man on her sofa, and Hermione put her head in her hands. "You're both ridiculous. Completely ridiculous."

"Just don't shut out the idea," Ginny said. "You could be good for each other."

"Seriously?" Hermione asked again, shocked by how much her friends seemed to want something to happen with Draco Malfoy. "How do you imagine that?"

"You could calm him down a bit," Harry said. "He wouldn't have to raise a kid on his own. I'm sure he manages fine, but that's not exactly easy on anyone. And he would slow you down, I think."

"Slow me down?"

"With work, I mean. You work so hard; you always have, even with Ron. Be honest; if the Malfoys weren't here right now, what would you be doing?"

"Maybe reading, or…" she stopped and blushed. She would probably be doing something for work; she always had more to do with work.

"Exactly," Harry said. "I just feel like he'd slow you down. And that wouldn't be a bad thing. You could spend some time as a family, almost. It's not like he wouldn't challenge you-Malfoy's almost as smart as you, and you would talk about intelligent things and probably bicker-but you didn't do that with Ron. You would fight sometimes but eventually just give in."

"It's not going to happen," Hermione said stubbornly. "Let it go, you two. I'm not discussing this anymore. Now, if there's nothing else…"

"We'll get out of your hair," Harry said with a slight smirk. "Just behave yourself, okay?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked them to the door. She hugged both of her friends, her family, and told them not to say anything stupid when she came to dinner that night. Hermione was relieved that Molly Weasley still wanted her to come to the family dinner even though Hermione was divorcing her son.

She went to get Scorpius then, and they made lunch together. Scorpius asked her questions quite frequently, trying to understand everything they were doing, and Hermione explained everything patiently. She enjoyed having Scorpius with her. "Would you like to wake up your father?" she asked. "That way we could all eat lunch together? It's getting late, he should wake up anyway. Don't you think?"

Scorpius giggled and nodded, rushing over to his father. Hermione watched with a slight smile on her face as Scorpius poked Draco, shaking his shoulder slightly. "Daddy…" Scorpius said in a sing-song voice. "Daddy! Daddy it's lunch time. Wake up!"

He kept shaking Draco's shoulder, and after a moment Draco jerked awake, a bit delirious. "What's happening?" he asked, looking around the room in confusion. "Granger? What are you doing here?"

"In my flat?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know, what am I doing in my own flat?"

"Why am I in your flat?"

"You missed Scorpius but didn't want to wake him up," she lied easily, because Scorpius was in the room and she didn't want him to know that his father had gotten incredibly drunk and showed up on her doorstep. "We'll talk later. Scorpius and I made lunch; are you hungry?"

"Yes, please." he said, standing up from the couch. He rubbed his temples for a moment and then walked to the kitchen table. Hermione set out plates and dished out food before taking a seat herself.

Lunch was nice, genuinely nice. She didn't think about David Wilson and his article or what had happened with Lucius Malfoy the night before. She focused on the people with her, completely aware that Harry would claim it as evidence for his earlier statement. In her opinion, though, his earlier statement was just assumptions, which could never be true.


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two

**A/N: Hello! I just wanted to take a moment and apologize for taking so long with this last update. It's my first semester of college and I've had finals and papers and, basically, a lot of things that kept me from writing. I appreciate your patience if you had to wait, and I thank you for reading. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

With Granger's help, things started to get easier. Scorpius was happier than Draco remembered him being in the last year, because he got to spend so much time with her. Draco didn't feel as worried all the time, because Granger was a righteous person who wouldn't let his son get hurt, and he knew that she'd go after anyone who tried to hurt him. She liked kids, it seemed, and she wouldn't want any of them to get hurt, even if the kid was of a past enemy.

His life at St. Mungos got easier too. The young healers didn't need to be watched quite as frequently, which meant they were out of his hair. There were no big accidents or terrible things that happened, so he wasn't too overworked or exhausted. He slept better too, knowing that if he desperately needed help then he had someone to turn to. Someone who wasn't Blaise, who would hold it over his head for a year and ask for favors.

The only trouble in his life were his parents. His mother had been in St. Mungos for a few days, and Draco had gone in to see her every now and then. She apologized for what his father had done, and Draco had told her not to think about. She tried to convince him, halfheartedly, to stay as far away from Hermione Granger as possible, but Draco explained to her that Scorpius wanted to be around her and that Draco didn't like to say no to him since Astoria had died. He'd successfully managed to avoid his father for most of that time, but Draco's luck was quick to run out. He fan into his father after three successful days of dodging him. They'd gone through and awkward silence and glares, and his father had eventually insisted that he leave and not come back. His mother had just nodded slightly, and Draco had stormed out of the room.

He wanted to write to his mother, once she'd gone back home, but he knew his father wouldn't let her read anything from him. If he wanted to talk to her any time soon, he'd have to kiss up to his father and say that he would join his father's team. Draco didn't want to do that, because that would mean betraying everything he'd done in the last ten years. It would mean that every person he'd healed and every moderately decent thing he'd done had been for nothing. Draco didn't like wasting his time, and that would be years of wasting it.

Draco settled for trusting that his mother was okay. If she wasn't, she would write or show up in St. Mungos, and he would hear about it in an instant. Either way he could avoid his father, which Draco wanted to do more than anything else. Because once he saw his father he would be forced to react in some form, and that meant picking a side. He just wanted peace in his life, for once. Which meant he acted like a coward any time his father was involved because his father could make his life the opposite of peaceful.

It had been cowardly, he knew, to not stand up for Granger in the hospital that night. It had been cowardly to go home and get drunk. It had been even worse to show up a completely wasted mess at her front door. She'd been kind enough to bring him inside and let him sleep on her sofa, but he'd gotten a stern talking to that afternoon about how she needed sleep and how she didn't need drunk men coming to her flat. Draco couldn't blame her for being upset with him; if someone had shown up drunk at his door, he would have hexed them and happily gone back to bed. Granger was better than him no matter how he looked at it, and while it infuriated him, Draco was relieved she was there.

He was more relieved to have her uncomfortable sofa to fall asleep on during the weekends. He'd adjusted his schedule slightly so that he worked late nights on Fridays and Saturdays, because Granger was more than happy to watch Scorpius during the weekends while he slept. Draco was just glad to have someone around to help who wasn't his parents, Astoria's parents, or Blaise. His friend was good with Scorpius too, but Draco had always felt guilty for making Blaise responsible for two children when he was completely on his own. Draco didn't think he could ever handle two children, especially if he didn't have a partner.

Blaise had set him up on three more dates with various other witches, but Draco couldn't find interest in any of them. One didn't even like children, which was an immediate end to the date once Draco had figured it out. The other two had just been two boring. They nodded along to everything he said and laughed exactly when he said something marginally amusing. They didn't call him out when he said something ridiculous, and they didn't even try to act like his equal. Draco couldn't figure out where his friend kept finding witches like this. Which was why, after a long evening of thinking about it, Draco had appeared at his friend's door. Their kids were off with their respective grandparents, meaning Draco had an entire evening to himself, and Blaise would have the same.

Draco knocked on the door before unlocking it with a spell and marching inside. Blaise appeared in the hall, looking irritated at his intrusion, but Draco didn't really care about his friend's irritation. "Where the hell do you keep finding these ridiculous dates?" he asked, wanting to get straight to the point of his visit. "It's like you're not even trying to find someone decent."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Tell me again what you want?"

"Someone who can keep up, who actually _likes_ kids, who's smart and-"

"So Granger," Blaise said, rolling his eyes. "You want me to set you up with Granger."

" _Not Grange_ r-"

"Well it sounds to me that you just described-"

"I don't want Granger!"

"Mate you've legitimately described her every time you've told me what you wanted," Blaise said, shaking his head slightly. "What do you want, some pureblood replica of her? Is that what this is?"

"No, it's-it's not-Merlin, Zabini, you're infuriating!" Draco said angrily. "I don't want anyone like Granger! And even if I _did_ , you're not setting me up with anyone like her. No matter what you do you're failing!"

"Because everyone knows who you bloody want," Blaise said furiously. "I'm just trying to make you realize it. Do you _honestly_ think I would intentionally set you up with a witch who doesn't like children? I see your child every week and I _know_ how important he is to you."

Draco shook his head, frustrated that everyone around him seemed to think they knew what he wanted and needed. Draco didn't want Granger; he would never want Granger. She was a fine friend, acquaintance really, and she was a nice help with Scorpius. But she wasn't someone he could ever see himself dating or falling in love with. It just wasn't going to happen, no matter what anyone else wanted.

"Mate," Blaise said quietly. "Just because you've always been told not to like her doesn't mean you can't. We're not children anymore; we're not at risk of losing our lives over anything."

"Speak for yourself," Draco muttered, slumping into a chair in the kitchen. "My father isn't exactly happy with my decision to let her around Scorpius. And he's getting mixed up in the wrong crowd again, and I just...I can't tell him to stay away because then he'll keep Mother away from me and Scorpius and that's not fair to her or us. And if I don't make him stay away, he'll keep hearing about Granger from Scorpius and...he's bound to discipline my son at some time, or he'll go after her or me. I'm just...I hate it, but I don't know how to win."

"Keep her a secret?" Blaise suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"You realize she's also married, right?"

"Oh please," Blaise said, rolling his eyes again. "Everyone's seen the articles in the Daily Prophet. She set the record straight after that scathing report; Weasley's cheated on her and she's in the process of leaving him. Maybe it's a tad soon, but it's not like you've ever really moved slowly before."

Draco sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead, trying to figure out what to do. He did like Granger, but he assumed most of that was because she got along so well with Scorpius. What if there was something there though? What if he was just blind to it? Was there any possible chance he could be developing feelings for Hermione Granger? "Even if there was something from my point of view, I doubt there would be anything on her end."

"At least you're not likely to cheat like her husband did. It's the curse of being traditional, yeah?"

"If I am traditional, shouldn't I not pursue a married woman?"

"Married for a few months more, at most," Blaise argued. "It's not like Ronald Weasley is taking it slow. From what I've heard, that woman he cheated with is already moving into the house Granger used to live in."

Draco shook his head. "No idea what's wrong with that man," he said. "I never liked Weasley, but I never thought he'd do something ridiculous like this. I thought they were wildly in love."

"Obviously not," Blaise said. "Are we in agreement then? You'll ask Granger on a date soon?"

"You're ridiculous," Draco muttered, feeling conflicted. It would make Scorpius happy, him becoming involved with Granger. A small part of him thought he'd be happy with it as well, because he'd missed having someone ever since Astoria had died. But that had only been a year and a half ago; if he started with someone else now, it might be too soon. He felt ready for something again, but what if he really wasn't? "If I don't do it within the week, you can hex me." he decided, which made Blaise grin.

"Sounds good to me," he said. "I'll look forward to hexing you."

Draco knew it would be a reason to follow through. Blaise was quite talented with a wand, and Draco didn't really want to be the recipient of his friend's hex. They shared some butterbeer after he nodded again, and it was nice to just have some time with Blaise without their kids. Draco adored his son, and Olivia, but it was good to be able to talk without worrying about them. Their kids were safe, with their respective grandparents, and they were probably having a wonderful time. Draco was relieved he could send his son off with one set of grandparents without worrying they'd turn him evil.

After the butterbeer, however, Draco decided to leave. He returned home, telling himself that he would have an early night, as Scorpius was staying overnight with his grandparents. He sat at his kitchen table with a cup of tea, trying to decide just how long to sleep. It was still relatively early, all things considered. He could just get an incredible amount of sleep, but the longer he sat around the more nervous he felt. He'd decided that he wanted to ask Granger to a nice meal, just the two of them, but the more he thought about it, the more nervous he felt. She could say no, she could swear she never wanted to see him again and then he would be stuck explaining to his son why he couldn't go and see Hermione Granger anymore.

He got up before he could stop himself and apparated to Granger's front door. It was just past nine, which didn't feel too late, so he knocked on the door. It took a full two minutes before she pulled it open. "Malfoy? What are you doing here?" she asked, looking confused. "Is everything okay? Where's Scorpius?"

"Everything's fine; he's with his grandparents."

"Oh, good," she said. "You had me worried for a moment. Why are you here?"

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked, well aware that he was stalling.

"Of course not. Though if you don't hurry up and tell me what's on your mind, I'm just going to go to bed."

"There's something I'd like to talk to you about." he said. She seemed to know that he was nervous, because she just sighed softly and held her door open so he could go inside. Draco entered the flat, hoping the night wouldn't end as badly as he feared it would.


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three

Draco Malfoy was being unusually quiet, so Hermione decided to make tea. She didn't know what was on his mind or why he'd come to her flat, but once he'd walked inside he'd gone silent. Hermione could tell that he was nervous, which felt odd because she didn't typically see him nervous. Once the tea was ready, Hermione set two cups down on the table and slid into the seat across from him. "Okay," she said, pushing a cup toward him. "You came over here, and you said there was something you wanted to talk about, so talk." Hermione knew she probably sounded harder than she'd intended, but she'd been getting to turn in early. She was tired and her body felt achy, and sleep sounded like a dream come true-quite literally. But sleep wasn't going to come if Draco Malfoy was going to insist upon sitting quietly at her kitchen table.

"I want to talk to you about something," he said, and Hermione sighed heavily because she'd heard that particular phrase at the door. "It's...Something that...You know, over the past few weeks…"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Malfoy," Hermione sighed. "Spit it out, will you? You're acting really oddly."

She watched him roll his eyes and glare at her for a split second. But his expression softened again, and Hermione raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "I was wondering how you would feel about getting a meal together. Not...Not with Scorpius, just the two of us."

Her eyebrow arched a bit higher. "What do you mean?"

"Granger, do I really have to say it?"

"Yes," she said, "I think you do."

"I'm asking you on a date, I suppose." he said, furrowing his brow.

"You look remarkably excited about it," she said, frowning at him. "Is this some sort of pity thing?"

"No," he said quickly. "Not at all. It's...You get along so well with Scorpius," Hermione noticed he wasn't looking anymore. He was nervous; he was actually nervous about asking her on a date. Where was the confident, do-no-wrong Malfoy she'd known all her life? "And you're smart; you keep up. I'm just...I know this must seem like it's coming out of nowhere, but I think...I think I'm developing feelings for you, and I'd like to see what comes of them, if you would as well."

Hermione stared at him for a few moments, trying to decide what to do. If she was honest with herself, she did really enjoy spending time with him and his son. But she wasn't technically divorced yet, and his wife had died less than two years ago. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked. "I mean, if something does develop between us, you'll most likely get some backlash once people start to find out. And...I'm not exactly the easiest person to deal with, Malfoy. I'm stubborn and I think I know better than anyone else-"

"So am I," he said. "I've thought about all of that, Granger. I would still like to take you out for a nice meal."

"Will you call me Hermione then?" she asked. "Because it would be quite odd to have a date calling me by my last name."

He turned a light shade of pink. "Right," he said. "I'm sorry. Would you, Hermione, like to go out with me?"

Hermione took a sip of her tea, watching him look more and more nervous, before she set her cup down and smiled. "Why not? We enjoy each other's company."

He let out a breath of relief and seemed to relax. "You really took your time with that one."

"As if I'm ever going to let things be easy," she said, rolling her eyes. "Do you have time on Tuesday night? Maybe your friend Blaise could watch Scorpius?"

He nodded and said, "He owes me. I'll choose a restaurant and let you know more when I do."

She sent him a smile. "Of course. But...Pick a muggle restaurant, okay? It will be quiet that way."

He nodded. They spent a few more minutes chatting about what type of restaurant they would go to and what type of food they wanted to be there. Hermione felt excited about the upcoming date, because she knew it would be a million times better than her last date. And she did like Draco Malfoy, even though he annoyed her frequently and she wasn't sure how they could ever work together in the long run. They'd been doing it for a while though, with her helping him and Scorpius.

By the time Tuesday rolled around, Hermione was excited. She was getting back out there, in a good way because it wasn't with some random man Ginny had set her up with. Hermione was never letting Ginny set her up again, not after what had happened.

They were meeting at the restaurant in just under twenty minutes. Hermione had tried with her appearance, but she had never been one for high fashion or intense makeup looks, or anything like that really, so she basically looked like her normal self but with slightly fancier clothes. She wondered if Draco Malfoy would be offended by her appearance; he had grown up knowing how to look good, and she had never really cared until she was older. But if he was offended, he really wasn't the type of person she wanted to be with anyway. After all, Ron had cared, especially in the last few years of their marriage. Hermione suspected that was part of why he'd run to a much younger and very gorgeous woman.

"Don't think about him," Hermione told herself softly as she grabbed her purse and walked out the door. "That's a good way to ruin a date."

She walked to the restaurant; it wasn't too far from her flat, and she liked the idea of walking places. When she'd been younger, she'd always loved to walk around town to get places. She'd never dreamed of apparating or using floo powder; she'd just been a normal girl who liked to stretch her legs and walk to the library. Which reminded her that she needed to go to the library soon; every now and then they sold old copies of books and she could buy them for a pound or two; Hermione could never pass up an opportunity to buy more books.

When she arrived, she looked around the room trying to spot Draco, but she couldn't see him anywhere. Hermione didn't really care that she was the first to arrive, because it gave her time to really calm down and make sure she didn't do anything ridiculous. Still, she smiled when she saw him walk in and look around. He was dressed like a muggle, and handsomely so. How it was that Draco Malfoy had turned from an annoying git to a rather good man was beyond her mind's abilities, but she was glad it had happened.

"Am I late?" he asked, looking slightly confused when he walked to her table. "Have I kept you waiting?"

"You're right on time," Hermione said. "I was just early; I walked so I left sooner than I probably needed to." He nodded, seemingly relieved that he hadn't been late for their date. But once the relief passed, he started to look uncomfortable. Hermione could see it immediately, and her mind jumped to the thought that he'd changed his mind and didn't want to date her after all. "It's not too late to change your mind, you know," she said, a slight iciness to her voice. "You can still walk out that door; I can eat here by myself if you'd rather go home."

"Hmm?" he asked, distracted. "No, it's not that. It's…"

"It's what?" Hermione challenged.

"If I'm completely honest, I'm exhausted."

"I'm...I'm sorry, what?"

"I'm exhausted. Scorpius has been with Blaise all day, since around three this morning. There was some big catastrophe and I got called into help. I'm...Running on about three hours of sleep."

"Why didn't you cancel?" Hermione asked, the ice disappearing. "I know that you're a healer and that these things happen."

"I've been looking forward to this ever since we set it up," he said. "I didn't want to reschedule because work got in the way."

Hermione frowned at him, which made him blush slightly. "I have a plan then," she said. "Don't bother getting an actual meal; let's just get a dessert."

"I'm...What?"

"We'll get a dessert here, because they've already seated us and I would hate to waste their time, and then we can go back to my flat and do something small there. And if you fall asleep on the sofa then you fall asleep on the sofa; it wouldn't exactly be the first time. How long is Blaise keeping Scorpius?"

"Until the morning," Draco said, smiling slightly. Hermione hoped that he liked her idea as much as she did. Getting out of her nicer clothes and into something more comfortable, like pajamas, felt like an excellent idea. Besides, she'd had an intense craving for pizza the entire day. If she got hungry enough then she could order one for the two of them to share. "You're sure that's okay?"

"I'm positive," she said. "As soon as we get back to my flat, I'm changing into pajamas and relaxing-It's not exactly the most traditional first date, but it sounds fantastic to me."

He smiled again, so she smiled back at him. They talked until their waiter came to take their order, and soon enough they'd left the restaurant behind. Hermione insisted they walk back, as it was still a lovely night and she didn't want to let it go to waste. When they got back to her flat, Hermione made a beeline for her bedroom and changed. She took her hair out of its bun and slid on her most comfortable pair of pajamas. She felt slightly guilty for getting so comfortable when Draco would stay dressed nicely, but she hoped he wouldn't care too much.

After she came back out, they played a few rounds of a muggle card game. Draco was terrible at it, which made Hermione laugh until her sides ached. After the rounds were over she ordered food, and they made their way over to the sofa to watch one of her favorite movies. Draco didn't have much experience with muggle technology or anything that wasn't animated, or at least that's what he said. It seemed to be rather accurate, because every few seconds he would ask a question about why there were little men in her television, and if any of them were witches or wizards. Hermione ended up laughing again, which made his cheeks turn a delightful shade of pink.

The pizza came and they ate and talked and laughed. They went back to watching a movie, though within forty minutes of it playing, Draco had started to drift off to sleep. Hermione covered him with a thick blanket she found in the hall closet before she went back to her own room. It was, she thought, one of the best first dates she'd ever been on. It was better than the one she'd had with Ron and David, and on par with the date she'd had with Viktor Krum back in Hogwarts. That one had been successfully ruined by Ron, which left a bitter taste in her mouth, but it didn't seem like anything could ruin this one.

Except, of course, waking up after a few hours with the strong urge to throw up everything she'd eaten that night. Hermione groaned, silently cursing her pregnancy for doing this to her, before she rushed into the bathroom and knelt at the toilet. It seemed to take years before she felt better again, and she rubbed her forehead to try and calm herself down before going out to the kitchen to get water. She saw that Draco was still asleep on her sofa, though he was in an odd position that didn't look at all comfortable. Hermione shook her head slightly and sipped at the water she'd gotten. A large part of her brain kept screaming at her to kick him out and to never let him back in without Scorpius again. It said he was dangerous and that she would get hurt if she got attached to him. But another part insisted that there was no way the man lying on the couch was going to go out of his way to hurt her. It might happen, because people got hurt in situations like these all the time, but it would feel good up until then. And, because she'd been feeling so rotten lately, Hermione decided it was time to feel good again.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four

Draco was shocked at how easy everything was with Hermione Granger. It had been easier than ever before when she was just watched Scorpius and was a casual acquaintance. But now that they had been on a few dates-which mostly revolved around relaxing in her flat and eating food and talking-Draco found things to be even easier than before. It was like the world had slowed and calmed to give them time to adjust to each other. And they adjusted well; she gave him time to just sit quietly whenever he needed it and he listened to her rant whenever someone upset her.

Soon enough they'd been having their unusual dates for a month. Draco was happier than he remembered being in the last year and a half. When Astoria had died, he'd been convinced he would never feel happy again, and that he would be alone the rest of his life. Now Hermione Granger, of all people, had changed his mind. Even if things didn't work out with her, he knew that it was possible to be happy without his late wife. That was a major relief; Draco had been worried about happiness. He hadn't been happy most of his life, and he didn't want to spend another fifty years the same way.

He thought about all of this as he laid on her sofa. Uncomfortable as it was, Draco was starting to get used to the feeling of it. She always made him sleep on the sofa if he'd worked all night or been forced to pull an extra shift, which meant he'd slept there quite a few times. Scorpius was usually there to wake him up, at least on the weekends, and Draco was glad to see him so happy. He wasn't aware that Draco was dating Hermione Granger yet, because they didn't want to tell him and get him excited just for things to go downhill, but he was always happy to spend time with her.

Life was easy, and Draco was happy. Blaise held it over his head all the time, because he claimed responsibility for them getting together. Draco consistently told him to stop claiming that, because it was annoying, but Draco knew it was true. If it hadn't been for the threat of a hex, Draco probably wouldn't have said anything for a long time. He hadn't wanted to think about any possible feelings for her. He hadn't wanted to go down that path. But Blaise hadn't really given him a choice, and now Draco was happy.

"Do you want to sit here for a thousand years, or are you going to finish up that paperwork and check on your patients?"

The question startled him out of his thoughts about Hermione Granger. Draco narrowed his eyes at Ryan Baker and said, "I haven't been here that long," he said defensively. "Leave me alone. I don't need to check on them for another twenty minutes; they're all fine."

"Daydreaming about something then?" he pushed, ignoring Draco completely. "Some girl that you couldn't possibly get?"

"Shut it," Draco muttered, finishing paperwork and standing up to glare at Ryan Baker. "And I do have her, for your information. And you have a massive load of paperwork to do-looks like I actually get to go home tonight."

Draco strode toward the door confidently, pleased with the slightly frustrated look on Ryan Baker's face. He was nearly out of the room when he heard his colleague mutter, "As if a witch is going to choose a Death Eater." But Draco couldn't stand the thought of fighting with anyone at the moment, so he just shook his head and left with flushed cheeks. He told himself that he knew how everyone would see him, that he had always known how everyone would see him. But it still made his chest tighten and he felt sad and angry the rest of the day.

Still, that night he took Scorpius to Blaise's house and found himself heading to Hermione Granger's door. They were going to a restaurant to celebrate the last week of the first trimester of her pregnancy. It was a big deal, at least to her, because it meant her child had a better chance of surviving, or at least that's what she'd always heard. Draco hadn't quite understood the point of celebrating, but he was glad to see her during the week more than he usually did. And if she was excited about it, he wanted to be excited with her.

He was struck, when she opened the door, by how beautiful she was. Draco wasn't entirely sure when it had happened-he certainly hadn't noticed it a few months ago-but he found her gorgeous. Maybe it was just the high of a month long relationship; Astoria had always seemed incredibly beautiful to him once they were together. "You're staring at me," Hermione said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Are you ready to go?"

He flushed again and sent her a slight smile. "It's an actual date this time. Of course I'm ready."

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "And sitting around my flat in pajamas isn't an actual date?"

"You were the only one in pajamas," Draco pointed out, and she laughed and he felt happy.

"Fair," she said. "But I have to admit, I do enjoy staying home in comfortable clothes. I am almost thirty, Draco."

"You're so old," he said, because he knew it would make her roll her eyes. She did, and then she pushed his arm slightly. "You don't think being sick every day has anything to do with your desire to stay home?"

"Oh it definitely does," she agreed. "That and the pleasure I get from books. I could spend weeks at home just reading and drinking tea and-well, maybe I'd have to do some paperwork, but not too much."

Draco smiled at her fantasy. It did sound nice, staying home for a long period of time and just relaxing. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to do that-before Scorpius, surely, and maybe even before Astoria. He loved his late wife, he always wood, but she hadn't exactly been the relaxing type of person. He hadn't thought Granger would be that way either, but she did tend to surprise him.

They arrived at the restaurant, and Draco was surprised when he actually had a good time. It was a muggle place that served food he wasn't used to, and he hadn't expected to like it much at all. Apparently Granger's parents had taken her there when she was younger and she'd adored it, and Draco had wanted their celebration to be good for her. He knew her parents were in Australia and had been for a long time, and he knew she was close to them, or at least closer than he was to his own parents. He had been sure that she would enjoy something that reminded her of them. They were coming soon for a visit, Hermione had been talking about it for two weeks, and now she was talking about the time she'd been brought before.

Draco liked listening to her. Her voice made him smile and he was happy when she was excited. He'd used to think of her excitement as ridiculous or unnecessary, and when they'd been in school together, he'd found her voice infuriating. In school, if he'd heard her he'd have wanted to cast a spell to make her silent. Now, however, he felt like he could sit and listen to her for hours and not be irritated at all. At least not with her sound; sometimes her words made him scowl and roll his eyes, but he expected that. They were, after all, very opinionated. That wasn't about to change just because they were seeing each other.

"Draco?" she asked, having finished her story. "Would you like to meet them, when they come?"

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked, caught off guard. "Meet who?"

She raised an eyebrow before replying. "My parents? When they come back to London in a week; I'm only asking because...Honestly, I've told my mother about you and she's curious, and she wants to have a nice dinner."

"A month in and I'm already meeting your parents?" Draco asked, smirking at her. She rolled her eyes and started to shake her head, which prompted him to speak again. "I can't guarantee that they'll like me, but I'll go and meet them."

"Will you bring Scorpius?" she asked, a slight smile on her face. "He'll ease the air a bit. Mum's always loved kids."

"You don't think he'll be suspicious if we're taking him to a dinner with your parents?"

"He's three."

"And a half."

"Draco-"

"He's also remarkably intelligent-"

"Okay, fine, you don't have to bring him," she said, sounding frustrated. "Forget I even asked. For Merlin's sake, you could just say so instead of beating around the bloody bush."

"I'm sure he'd love to come," Draco said, back peddling as quickly as he thought appropriate. "He'll be happy to see you."

"No, you don't have to bring him. It's fine; don't bother thinking about it."

"Granger," Draco said, sighing heavily. "You can't take everything too seriously. I'll bring Scorpius; he loves going to restaurants."

She flushed slightly and glared at him. "You do that too often."

"You fall for it too often," he said, smiling once again. She smiled as well, and Draco felt like he was safe again. "If you tell me where to go, Scorpius and I will meet you there."

"Thank you,"she said with a slight smile. "Shall we get some dessert? This is supposed to be a celebration, after all, and dessert sounds amazing right now."

He nodded his agreement, and when the waiter returned they both ordered dessert. They spent the rest of their evening talking and laughing, and once again Draco felt happy. Things with Hermione Granger were better than he'd ever expected, and he didn't want that to change.

After their date, Draco went back to Blaise's house to pick up Scorpius. It was late and his son was asleep, so Draco carefully took him in his arms and brought him back home. Scorpius didn't wake up, which was a relief, and Draco adored having some time just holding his son. When Scorpius was a newborn, and even a year old, Draco had loved just holding him while he was asleep. It made him feel close to Scorpius, and helped remind him that he wasn't going to be as bad of a father as his own had been. Draco wasn't anywhere near perfect, but he wasn't going to take after the example that had been set for him.

The next week of his life went by fast. Draco felt slightly nervous because he was meeting Hermione Granger's parents, and he wanted to make a good impression. Their relationship was still relatively new and bound to fail, but Draco wanted to impress the people important to her. He thought that probably meant he liked her more than he should, but that knowledge didn't stop his feelings.

Soon enough it was time to meet them at a restaurant. Draco had broken down and dipped into the money he'd been saving, which meant he could go out with Hermione Granger and her parents. He knew he had plenty of money, but he liked the idea of living within his means. Apparently, though, when it came to her he didn't care about that at all.

"Daddy, where are we going?" Scorpius asked as they entered the restaurant. "Why can't we just go to Miss Mione's house?"

"This is a special dinner," Draco explained, getting his son settled at a table in a secluded section. "Miss Mione wanted us to meet her family, so we're going somewhere nicer."

"But why does it have to be nice? I like Miss Mione's house. She has things so I can color."

"How about I make you a deal?" he asked, and Scorpius nodded eagerly. "You can stay up a little bit past your bedtime tonight to color, as long as you behave during dinner."

Scorpius grinned happily. "Okay Daddy! I love coloring!"

Draco smiled and smoothed his hair, hoping the dinner would go well. "I know you do. And we can send one of your pictures to Miss Mione, okay?"

Scorpius nodded again, and started explaining to Draco exactly what he was going to color that night.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Hermione was finishing getting ready when there was a knock on her door. When she heard that though, she didn't hesitate before running toward the door and throwing it open. She might almost be thirty years old, but that didn't mean she didn't get excited every time her parents showed up at her door. And there they were, looking tanned and happy, and Hermione immediately threw her arms around her mother.

Her mother laughed and said, "I love you too, Sweetie. How are you? Let me look at you-"

"Showing already?" her father said, a proud smile on his face. "Honey, don't hog her-Hermione, give me a hug."

She smiled and hugged him tightly, blushing slightly at the fact that he could tell she was starting to show. "How are you guys?" she asked once her parents let her go. "How's Australia-the office?"

"It's good, all good," her mother said with a smile. "We've got more patients than ever, but we've got some excellent dentists covering us this week. I'm sure the clients will be happy."

"And Australia is excellent. I'm thrilled with the temperature-and spending afternoons outside in the garden." her father said, and Hermione knew immediately that she would be subject to a long talk on different plants her father had started working with. Hermione would be happy to have that conversation though, because she adored her parents and she just wanted to listen to them for as long as possible. They were going to be gone again in a week, and she wouldn't get to have the conversation until they came back.

"Come inside," Hermione said after a moment of hesitation. "We don't have to be at dinner for another hour, and I'd love to spend a bit of time talking to you."

She held the door open for a moment while they grabbed their luggage and came inside. There was another round of hugs, and Hermione sat them down on the sofa so they could talk more. It was really nice; she missed getting to see her parents laugh and interact with each other. With a pang though she realized their interactions were what she'd expected for herself and Ron. She'd expected them to grow old together and laugh and be in love. All of that was gone, and even though she was mad at him and she had ended it, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad.

Before too long, they stood up to leave for the restaurant. Hermione knew her parents were curious about Draco and how he'd changed, as she'd complained about him throughout all of her years at Hogwarts. Hermione just hoped they didn't hold a lot of resentment for everything they knew about him from childhood.

They arrived at the restaurant, and Hermione spotted familiar blond hair. She made her way over to the table, her parents trailing behind her, and she smiled when Scorpius saw her and jumped out of his chair to greet her. "Miss Mione!" he said hugging her tightly around the knees. "Miss Mione you're here! Daddy said you were coming to dinner, and then you weren't here, and I thought you weren't coming!"

"Is that so?" she asked, moving him toward her hip. "What did you think happened?"

"I thought you were fighting a bear," he said with a giggle, and Hermione laughed too. "It took a long time for you go come."

"Well I was definitely not fighting a bear," she said with a smile. "I guess I just wasn't moving fast enough."

Scorpius nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes caught on her parents. "Miss Mione? Who are they? That lady looks like you." He sounded nervous, and Hermione wondered if it was because he was wary of strangers now that he'd had some negative experiences with them.

Hermione sent him a small smile. "That's my mummy," she said, gesturing to her mother. "And my daddy. They're very nice people; they live in Australia, do you know where that is?"

Scorpius shook his head and offered them a toothy grin. "Hi," he said shyly, waving at them. "My name's Scorpius."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you," her mother said, holding out a hand. He shook it firmly, something Hermione was sure Draco had taught him. "And how old are you, Scorpius?"

"I'm three and a half," he said proudly, quickly feeling more comfortable with their situation. "Miss Mione is my best friend."

Her mother smiled and said, "Well she's a good friend, I think, and you are too. Shall we sit down? I'd love to talk more with you."

He nodded and slid out of Hermione's arms to go sit by Draco. He was standing now, and Hermione smiled slightly when he looked a bit nervous as well. "Mum, Dad, this is Scorpius' father, Draco."

"Pleasure to meet you," her father said, shaking his hand. "Hermione's told us a lot about you."

"Not all good, I would guess." Draco said, his cheeks a bit pink.

"Oh definitely not," her mother said, but there was still a friendly smile on her face. "Then again, I would guess your parents haven't heard all good things either."

"I...Should probably-" Draco started to say, but he was quickly cut off by her mother.

"Relax, I would say. We don't bite-mostly we get bitten."

Hermione rolled her eyes as her parents both laughed loudly. "They're dentists," Hermione explained to Scorpius. "They clean teeth and sometimes people accidentally bite their fingers."

He giggled and said, "That's funny. It doesn't hurt, right?"

"No, not too much," Hermione said. "Would you like to sit by me? I know you've got a seat next to your daddy, but I can steal you for the night, right?"

He nodded happily and said, "I want to sit by you too, Miss Mione!"

She grinned at him and they all got seated once again. Scorpius sat between her and her mother, and Draco ended up sitting next to her father. Hermione could tell he still felt a bit nervous, so she tried to send him a reassuring smile to help him calm down. He sent her a tiny smile back, and Hermione's grew. "So," she said, trying to calm the air around them. "How was your day, Draco? You worked, right? At least in the morning?"

"I did," he said, his tone more proper than she was used to. "It wasn't too bad."

"What do you do, Draco?" her father asked, glancing at him as he looked over the menu.

"I'm a healer," he said. "A-A doctor, I suppose, in muggle terms. I work at the hospital."

"That's a noble career," her mother said with a smile. "What made you want to be a healer?"

"I wanted to help people. If-I assume you know the past, and I wanted to make up for it."

"Daddy?" Scorpius asked, piping up again. "What happened in the past?"

Draco seemed to panic for a moment, and Hermione decided to speak up. "Did you know that your daddy and I didn't used to get along?" she asked, and Scorpius shook his head with a shocked expression on his face. "We used to fight all the time. But what's important is that we don't fight now, which means that now is more important than the past."

"Oh, okay." Scorpius said. He had a small smile on his face, and Hermione hoped his curiosity would be satisfied for a while.

"How is work?" her mother asked, shifting the topic slightly.

"It's very good, thank you." Draco said. He still sounded a bit stiff, and Hermione couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Draco's one of the best healers at the hospital," Hermione said, hoping to cheer him up a bit. "I've had to go a couple of times in the last few months, and every time they send him to make sure I'm okay."

"A bit of hero's treatment?" her father guessed with a proud smile.

Hermione blushed and nodded. "I've tried to say that it's not necessary because I'm just me, but...help save the wizarding world and be friends with Harry Potter...Probably not going to go away for a while."

"Oh definitely not," her father said. "But you do deserve to be treated like a hero. After all that's happened…"

Hermione turned red and shifted herself away from her father and Draco, focusing instead on her mother and Scorpius. He was telling her about a deal he'd made with Draco about coloring after they got home that night. Hermione was amused that he'd thought a deal was necessary to keep Scorpius behaving well. Scorpius, she thought, was always on his best behavior because he wanted to make his father proud.

"Are all those drawings in Hermione's house made by you?" her mother asked, continuing to take an interest in him. "Because I saw them earlier and I think they look amazing."

Scorpius started smiling, and Hermione was thrilled at how well they got along. She loved Scorpius and it meant a lot that someone other than Draco could see just how amazing he was. "I can color you a picture too! I can color animals really well!"

"That would be great," her mother said, smiling at him. "I love animals. Can you color birds? They're my favorite."

He nodded excitedly. "I color a lot of birds. I like birds too."

"Well it seems like we're going to be friends too," her mother said. "I'd love to hear more about you coloring; what are your favorite colors?"

Hermione just smiled as she listened to her mother talk to Scorpius. She could tell that they were getting along really well, and when she focused her attention back on Draco and her father, she could tell that they were getting along as well. It made her happy; she'd been a bit nervous about the meeting too, but now she could see that those nerves weren't necessary. Her parents were being incredibly kind to Draco and his son, and Draco was working hard to be kind as well. She could see on his face that there were some things he wanted to say and held back, and she was glad that he had some restraint.

After the dinner was over, Hermione's parents waited for Scorpius to go to the bathroom while Hermione dragged Draco out to the street. "Did I do okay? Are you mad at me? Is that why I'm being dragged?" he asked, the nerves from earlier back on his face. "I thought I was doing really well. I thought they liked me."

"You're amazing," Hermione said, getting him on to the street and hugging him tightly. They didn't tend to hug or anything, but she wanted to express how happy she was and a hug felt right. Draco tensed for a moment, though he slowly relaxed and put his arms around her as well. "They loved you, I could see it on my dad's face. And my mum's too. I'm...Thank you, for doing this. You're amazing."

He smiled then, a large smile that Hermione rarely got to see. "I was trying. I thought them liking me would make you happy."

"It definitely did," Hermione said. "I am happy-I am incredibly happy. They're home and they like you, and...I'm just happy. So thank you. Thank you for doing this and for trying so hard. This means so much to me, and I won't forget it."

He smiled at her and, to her surprise, pulled her in for another hug. "I'm glad you're happy," he said softly. "I'm glad I helped make that happen."

Hermione blushed as she pulled away from him. "Thank you. And hey, I'm kind of taken up all week, but once my parents leave, maybe you could come over again? We could have a lazy date again?"

"That sounds perfect." he said.

"I'll buy something nice to make for dinner that night then. I should be able to keep it down all night now."

He laughed and said, "Morning sickness is starting to go away?"

"Slowly," she answered. "It's not every day now, just every other day."

"Hopefully it will go away soon enough. It should get better."

"Is that with your medical experience? After the fourteenth week I won't throw up all the time?"

"Perhaps." he said. He looked like he wanted to say more, but at that moment her parents came out with Scorpius. Scorpius yawned and walked over to Draco, who picked him up. Scorpius rested his head on Draco's shoulder, and Hermione knew he was going to fall asleep soon.

"Well, Draco, it was a pleasure to meet you," her mother said, shaking his hand again. "And I'm in love with Scorpius here; you've done a good job with raising him so far."

"Thank you, Mrs. Granger," Draco said, shifting Scorpius slightly. "It was nice to meet you, and your husband as well."

"I expect it will happen again," her father said. "You seem to get on very well with Hermione here, and we'll be back here before long. I look forward to seeing you again, maybe interrogating you a bit as well."

"Dad," Hermione said, blushing and shaking her head. "Calm down, will you?"

"Just making sure my little girl is taken care of." he said, patting her shoulder and giving her a one-armed hug.

"I'll see you later," Hermione said, looking toward Draco once again. Scorpius is already asleep on his shoulder, which made her smile. "And I'll get you two home. Goodbye, Draco. Tell Scorpius that I'll see him soon too, okay?"

Draco nodded, and they went their separate ways. Hermione walked with her parents back to her flat, and before they could ask her too many questions, she kissed them both on the cheek and went to bed. She was happy, especially because everything had gone so well with Draco and the pregnancy. Her life had imploded three months ago, but it seemed like it was getting better and she couldn't wait to see where it was going to go.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six

Draco laughed as he pushed his son on the swing. He didn't have to work again until that night, and he'd thought that Scorpius would enjoy an afternoon at the park. His son loved the park, and while he went frequently with Hermione, Draco thought that it would be nice to have just the two of them. Besides, she was busy taking her parents back to the airport. They were leaving for Australia again, and she wanted to be there to see them off. Draco could understand that; if he were close to his parents like she was to hers, he would have wanted to say goodbye as well. Still, it meant he was losing a day with her. The weekends were a nice time to be together, because Scorpius loved to see her and Draco mostly worked nights on the weekends. He could sleep for a while and then spent a few good hours with her and his son before going back to work. Then he could repeat the process and spend the entire weekend with her and Scorpius.

"Daddy?" Scorpius asked after climbing off the swing. "Do you love Miss Mione?"

Draco stared at his son in shock. He had, in fact, been thinking about her, but love was nowhere on the table at the moment. "Why would you think that?" he asked, unable to mask his surprise.

Scorpius tilted his head and frowned slightly. "You're together a lot," he decided. "And you're nice to each other."

Draco shook his head and smiled slightly. "That doesn't mean love, Scorpius. Miss Mione and I are just really good friends."

"Oh," Scorpius said with a frown. "Daddy, can you love Miss Mione please? I want her to be my new mummy."

Draco felt himself turn a light shade of pink. "It doesn't work like that, Scorpius. Should we go down the slide?"

Scorpius beamed at him and ran off toward the slide. Draco felt relieved because he wasn't asking about Hermione anymore, and that felt like a touchy subject. They were together, and they were happy, but Draco didn't want Scorpius to know yet. There was always a chance it could fall apart with her, and Draco didn't want Scorpius to get his hopes up just to have it fall apart. Draco didn't want his son to lose another person who was really important to him. He didn't want Scorpius to be unhappy.

His son seemed to lose all thoughts of Hermione Granger as he ran around and slid down slides and played with other kids. Draco watched him with a smile. He loved his son, and he loved seeing him smile and laugh and play. It was a childhood that Draco couldn't really remember. He knew there were probably times he had been a happy child, and he remembered times where he'd been a proud child, but he couldn't remember running and laughing.

Eventually Scorpius came over to him, yawning and climbing into his lap. Draco picked him up and Scorpius rested his head on his shoulder. He took his son home then; Scorpius was exhausted from playing for the past few hours, and he could use a nap before he went to Hermione's flat. So when they got home, Draco walked Scorpius upstairs and carefully laid him down. Scorpius curled up into a ball and rested peacefully while Draco headed back downstairs.

He spent the rest of his afternoon reading the Daily Prophet, and then a novel Hermione had recommended. She practically had a library in her flat now, and she'd read almost every book she owned. The stack of unread books was quickly dwindling, which wasn't a surprise, and she had a great deal of recommendations for him. He was considering taking note of every book she had and buying her a whole new stack to get started on. He knew she would love it, and they had been together for a while now and he felt like he owed her a gift of some sort. Draco couldn't help but smile at the thought of getting Hermione books; he could imagine the look on her face when he gave them to her. He was confident she would hug him, which would make him happy, and maybe the books could be the reason they kissed for the first time.

Draco blushed at the thought, but he knew it was something he wanted. He'd been thinking about kissing her more often than not lately, and while he wasn't really prepared to actually go through with it, Draco wanted it to happen.

The sound of little footsteps brought him out of his thoughts. He must have been reading for longer than he'd realized, because Scorpius was coming carefully down the stairs, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Daddy?" he asked. "Is it time to go to Miss Mione's house yet?"

"Just about," Draco said, checking his watch. "Would you like to go a bit early? I'm sure she wouldn't mind. In fact, I bet she'd be thrilled to see you."

Scorpius nodded eagerly, waking up a bit with the thought of seeing Hermione Granger. "Can we please go early? Daddy I want to see her; she's my bestest friend in the whole world!"

Draco grinned and let Scorpius take his hand. With a wave of his wand he was in healer's robes. They went through the fireplace, because it was faster than the Knight Bus, and Draco didn't feel like apparating. He knew he'd have to use a spell to get the soot from the fireplace off him, but he could handle that. Just like Scorpius, he was excited about the idea of seeing Hermione. He couldn't stay long, but seeing her at all would put him in a good mood before he had to go to work.

She was reading a book when they popped up in her living room. She set it down, startled at their sudden appearance, but she quickly smiled and stood up. "Well hello, boys," she said, carefully marking her page in her book before setting it down. "How are you? I wasn't expecting you for another twenty minutes."

"Miss Mione!" Scorpius said, rushing to hug her. She smiled and picked him up, and he settled into her arms with his head on her shoulder. "I missed you." he mumbled, and Draco smiled.

"Someone really wanted to see you," Draco said, folding his arms across his chest and keeping his distance. "And Scorpius thought he'd tag along early too."

Hermione laughed, a sound that made Draco's whole body feel warm and happy. "Is that so?" she asked, setting Scorpius down so he could go run off and pick out whatever they were going to do that night. While he was in the guest room, Hermione came over and gave Draco a quick hug. "I'm glad you came early, I really wanted to see you too."

Draco grinned. He had no idea how he'd gotten lucky enough to have her in his life, but she made things feel really good. "When do I get to see you next? Other than when I come back in the morning and inevitably fall asleep on your sofa."

She laughed again. "We could spend the day together tomorrow, if you wanted. Scorpius would be with us-"

"I could ask Blaise to watch him if you wanted."

"It's whatever you prefer, really. You know how much I love him. We could have a family day," Hermione said. "Have you ever gone to the zoo? I'm sure Scorpius would love it."

"We went earlier this summer, but he'd probably love going again. It sounded like he was a massive fan of it. He loves the aquarium too, if you want to go there instead. It's cooler there."

"We'll decide in the morning. There's no reason to worry about it right now." Hermione said. "I'll tell Scorpius tonight, I'm sure he'll have a preference."

"He probably will. We could even do both, if we wanted. Maybe not in one day, but one this weekend and one next weekend."

"Another excuse to see you," Hermione said with a smile. "Are you going to stay with us for a bit? I know you don't have to be at work for another half hour, almost. Scorpius will probably want to color, and I'm sure you could find something to draw."

He grinned and said, "Going to hang up my art on your walls, are you? I never knew you were a fan, Granger."

She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips, which didn't look too intimidating at the moment. "I'm more a fan of Scorpius' art. It has...a certain youthful attitude."

Draco laughed and nodded. "Of course I'll stay. I'll stay away from the bloody hospital as long as I can."

"Things not going well?" Hermione asked as Scorpius came running out with paper and crayons.

"It's just hectic," Draco said. "As per usual. But every time I go in, I want to be back home with Scorpius."

Hermione nodded. "I understand. I've always done long hours at the ministry, and I always used to wish I could be back home with Ron. When...Things were good, you know?"

Draco nodded this time. He was trying not to speak about Ronald Weasley with Hermione too much. The man frustrated him, and Draco never spoke about him the way Hermione would want. She wasn't happy with him, but she had residual feelings from being friends with the man for so long. He couldn't blame her for that; he'd been a big part of her life for almost two decades.

Scorpius managed to capture their attention again soon by asking them to color with him. They settled around Hermione's kitchen table, each with crayons in hand, and started drawing pictures on blank sheets of paper. It was relaxing, for twenty minutes, though as soon as those twenty minutes were up, Draco had to leave for St. Mungos. He would have loved to stay with Hermione and Scorpius, but he needed to help people. That was his job, and it was important too.

The first part of the night was quiet. Draco got caught up on paperwork and ordered some new supplies he'd read about that he wanted to test. Someone had invented a new salve for burns that was supposed to be more effective than the old ones, and he was willing to try it out. Baker came in and bothered him for a while, but Draco was used to that by now. And he was starting to not hate the man, so he wasn't annoyed as easily anymore.

But around two that morning, a large group of people appeared in the entrance to the hospital. Draco was in the waiting area when it had happened, and he'd seen shocked looks on many faces. Most of the people had cuts on the foreheads and arms, and a few looked like they were covered in soot. Draco was instantly reminded of the battle; people had looked worse after that, but this was a similar kind of devastation. "What's going on?" he asked the witch at the front desk, who just shrugged and stared at the new patients with a gaping mouth. "Can anyone tell me what's going on?" he asked, louder, his question directed at the large group of people. They all turned to face him. No one had the energy to scowl at him, nor did they have the energy to answer him.

After a moment, however, someone stepped forward. Draco recognized the messy black hair immediately, and Harry Potter strode over to him purposefully. "Someone attacked Hogsmeade," he said quietly. "We don't know who, but a lot of people are hurt, and a lot more are coming," Draco swallowed hard, his mind jumping to his father. He'd been getting involved in something bad again, and Draco was terrified that he'd had some part in this. He was about to respond when Harry Potter opened his mouth again. "Hermione had to go into the town to help. She's left Scorpius with Ginny-he's safe there, Malfoy, I swear. He's sleeping in the room with my son. Ginny won't let anything bad happen to him."

"My son is with your family?" Draco asked, his heart pounding. What if someone went after the Potters and his son got caught in the crossfire? "Are you-"

"I put up enchantments around the house," Potter said firmly. "The best I know, ones that Hermione taught me. She probably added a few more, if I'm honest. But it's not just your son there, it's my whole family. Nothing is going to happen to them."

Draco took a deep breath and nodded. He turned away from his former classmate and looked at the large group of people in front of him. "Listen up!" he called loudly, catching their attention once again. "Are you listening? Good. If you're here and standing, chances are you're not seriously injured. "We're going to send anyone with minor cuts, burns, bruises-anything like that, we're going to send you to the first floor. There will be at least twenty healers or trainees there that can patch you up. If you suspect you're more injured than that, report to the second floor. We'll do thorough checks on everyone, but we'll run more tests on you there. If anyone comes in seriously injured, I'll have a group down here to bring them up to the third floor. Give me two minutes to let everyone know. Okay? We'll heal you in two minutes."

There were nods, so Draco turned on his heel and went to find other healers to get started on treating patients.


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hermione rubbed her back as best as she could as she surveyed the destruction in Hogsmeade. She wasn't sure she'd seen anything like it since the Battle of Hogwarts, and seeing it now brought back horrible memories. The danger, at least, had passed. Whoever had attacked the town had been scared off by the arrival of the aurors, and Hermione was glad. She didn't feel like dueling a dark witch or wizard, at least not now, and had any stuck around she would have felt compelled to do so. Instead, she was just helping get survivors to the aurors designated to taking injured people to the hospital. There were a lot of aurors doing minor spells to heal the people of the village, which left few to check the buildings for a second time in case they missed anyone. Families were hiding, as were single people, as no one really wanted to die. That meant, however, hurrying into smoldering buildings and checking for children, injured adults, and even the pets of some horrified owners. Which would have been an easy task for someone her age, if they weren't five months pregnant like she was.

There was another building to her left that she hadn't been able to go in yet. Aurors had been inside it once, but she didn't remember them coming out, nor did she think they'd found anyone inside. Still, it was better to be thorough than to let someone hurt longer than necessary. With a sigh and one more rub of her lower back, Hermione moved toward the half-destroyed building. She vaguely remembered the new pub that had sprung up about five years ago, but she'd never bothered to go inside. She'd visit The Three Broomsticks or The Hogs Head, but she wasn't interested in the newer pub. It was always full of younger people, or at least that's what she'd heard. She knew, however, that it had a few rooms on the top floor, rented out by weary travelers. Hermione was confident there would be someone hiding in its depths, someone that the aurors hadn't found in their quick check for the seriously injured.

Hermione climbed the steep steps to the top floor of the pub. "Hello?" she called, hoping to get a sense for what was happening down the long corridor she was standing at the entrance to. Perhaps, she thought, someone would come out if they knew she was friendly. "Is anyone up here? Is anyone injured? I'd love to be able to help," Hermione moved further down the corridor; the doors were shut and it was eerily quiet. "My name is Hermione, Hermione Granger, and I work with the aurors, with magical law enforcement. I'd love to-"

She was caught off guard by a door opening just behind her. She turned around and didn't see anyone, which made her feel a bit uneasy. She walked in the room anyway; she was convinced there was a child inside and she needed to help them. As she walked in, however, she saw a group of men huddled together. There wore long, black robes, but their faces were clearly shown. And then, all of the sudden, one of the men shouted, "Stupefy!" and Hermione had to dive out of the way of the red burst of light.

"What-" she started to say, horrified by her current predicament.

She didn't get to speak for long; a different man had stood and looked toward her with hungry eyes. "You," he said slowly, "you're our ticket out. They won't touch us if we have you."

The man who'd spoken crossed the room before Hermione could react, and he grabbed her upper arm roughly, pulling her off the floor. "Let me go," Hermione commanded, narrowing her eyes and attempting to twist out of his grip. "Now."

"Oh, not a chance," he said. He leaned in close to her and Hermione smelled sweat and his rancid breath. "You are out ticket."

She reacted to his words without really thinking about what she was going to do. It was something she hadn't done in years; she punched the man squarely in the jaw and, when he let go of her arm to grab his face, she tried to run as fast as she could to get out of the pub. She got out of the room but was tacked in the corridor. Fear paralyzed her as she fell flat on the floor. The man above her pulled her off the floor once again. "Alright," he said, his voice gruff and furious, "Outside."

There was a wand at her throat then, and several more pointed at her back. They marched her outside, and Hermione felt a sense of dread as they did. A young auror, a woman named Penny, caught sight of the odd group and hurried over. "Found more surviv-" she started to say, but she quickly stopped and her eyes widened. Penny pulled out her own wand then and pointed it in Hermione's direction. "Let her go." she said, her voice shaking slightly.

The man holding Hermione just sneered at her. "Move aside," he said, "or she's dead."

Penny took a step back, lowering her wand automatically. She turned and ran, and the men started to move Hermione toward the center of the town again. They were approached after a few moments by a large group of aurors, led by Harry. Hermione was relieved to see him. She was fairly certain that she needed to go to the hospital, and he would get her there as soon as he bested the men.

But they seemed glad to see Harry there too. "Of course," one said, "the famous Harry Potter."

"We could surround you in seconds," Harry said, his voice quiet yet firm. "Let her go, come in peacefully, and maybe we'll be slightly kinder."

"No, no, we're not going to do that. If you don't let us go, we'll kill her. Your precious best friend; do you really want her dead?"

Harry scowled and looked down at his wand. "We'll come after you, with the full force of the auror department-"

"Harry don't you dare!" Hermione shouted, which caused the wand at her throat to be jabbed farther into her neck. "We don't negotiate-"

"A count of three," the man said, ignoring her. "We let her go, and you let us go. Do we have a deal?"

Harry nodded unhappily. There was a count, and then Hermione was shoved roughly down to the ground. A few loud cracks signaled the departure of the men who'd attacked Hogsmeade. A moment later, Harry was helping her off the ground. "Are you-" he started to say, but Hermione interrupted him.

"You let them get away?" she said furiously. "Harry James Potter, they've injured and murdered the whole of Hogsmeade tonight and you just let them get away!"

"Catching them is not worth losing one of my own," he said, his voice firm again. "I have a track record, Hermione. People don't die when I'm in charge. And," he added, dropping his voice, "I just promised Draco Malfoy for the fifth time that you'd be alright. Every time a bring a new group of people to St. Mungos, he makes me promise that you're okay; that you'll be okay."

Hermione frowned, but her chest felt warm. Draco was worried about her, and that meant that he cared. Which a large part of her already knew, of course, but it was nice to be reminded every now and then. Hermione shook her head slightly and focused back on Harry. She wanted to scold him for letting murderers get away, but she was grateful. He'd saved her life once again, and he'd saved the life of her baby. At that thought, however, fear gripped her once more. "Harry," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I've...I've hit the ground three times tonight. Twice on my front. I...What if…"

She couldn't vocalize her fear. Realization dawned on Harry's face and he slowly began to nod. "We're going to the hospital. Right now."

And with that, he grabbed her arm and they disappeared.

Hermione steadied herself using Harry's frame as they landed in the waiting area of St. Mungos. She'd barely done that though when Harry started to pull her toward the Welcome Witch. He demanded to have someone come and check her over, to which the Welcome Witch nodded obediently. Within minutes there was an older healer next to her, a woman Hermione vaguely recognized.

"What seems to be the problem?" the woman asked, looking at them with a slight hint of concern.

"She's fallen," Harry said. "On her stomach, twice, and she's five months pregnant, and...and she's…her first child was…"

He stopped short of actually saying the words, but the healer seemed to understand. "Come with me," she said. "I'll perform a thorough examination to ensure your health and the health of your little one. Were you in Hogsmeade?"

"Helping," Hermione said. "We found the men who attacked the village. They...They overtook me, and I got knocked to the ground a few times. I...I can't lose another child."

The healer nodded, leading her toward a private examination room on the first floor of the hospital. Harry trailed behind, though after a stern look from Hermione, he turned around and left to go back to Hogsmeade.

The healer, who introduced herself as Davies, performed a few spells and then left the room, telling Hermione to stay on her back on the bed. Hermione closed her eyes and pressed her palms into them. She was terrified, and completely alone, and that wasn't going to change. She'd sent Harry away, Ron was out of the question, Ginny was with all of the kids, and Draco was busy healing people from Hogsmeade.

It took twenty minutes for Davies to come back. She'd been halfway through explaining that Hermione would be required to stay in bed for the next two weeks when the door to the room slammed open. Hermione jumped at the bang that the door made, her eyes widening when she saw a positively furious looking Draco Malfoy storm into the room.

"Malfoy!" Davies barked. "How dare you-"

" _What did I tell you_?" he asked furiously, completely ignoring the older woman. "I said it _quite_ clearly, so either you didn't bother listening to me, _or the brightest witch in a hundred years forgot something_!"

"Draco-"

"No!" he shouted, clenching his fists as if he were trying to stop himself from throwing something. "No, don't try and make excuses. I told you to come to me if you ever needed treatment, and I have to find out from some idiotic man in the waiting area that Hermione Granger's been escorted to the hospital by Harry Potter!"

"Malfoy," Davies said firmly. "Get out of this room immediately. I will not tolerate this kind of behavior directed toward a patient!"

Draco turned his furious gaze on to her. "She's my girlfriend," he spit angrily. "I'm not leaving her."

The older healer's eyes widened significantly, and Hermione used her silence as a time to speak. "You don't get to be mad at me," she said. "You don't. I wasn't thinking about you when I came in tonight. I was thinking about the fact that more likely than not, I'm going to lose two children. So excuse me if I didn't remember your request when I was deciding whether or not I'd even be able to bury this one!"

Hermione furiously wiped her eyes and blinked back tears. She focused on the ceiling, because that was easier than Draco's face. She was being put on bed rest because Davies thought she was at risk for a miscarriage. She hadn't ever wanted to get pregnant again, but she hadn't been careful and now she was going to lose a second child. A second child that she'd promised herself she wouldn't fall in love with before it was born, but here she was, completely smitten and mourning her eventual loss.

A cautious hand gently took one of her own. "What can I do to help?" Draco asked softly. "How can I make this better for you?"

Hermione was about to tell him that he couldn't do a single thing when Davies spoke up. "You do, Malfoy, now have well over two weeks of vacation time left. She's going to be on bed rest for the next two weeks. You could finally take that time and look after her."

Hermione glanced at Draco to see him nodding. "I'll do it. I'll look after you. I just have three things I need to do first. Can...Davies, can-"

"We'll manage without you. I'm going to have her rest here until you get back, and then you need to follow a specific set of instructions that I'm going to give to both of you."

Draco nodded tiredly and said, "I'm going to go now. I'll be back as soon as I can, Hermione. I swear."

He squeezed her hand tightly before he ran out of the room.


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Draco felt muddled. That was the best way to put it really; he was full of emotions and they were swirling together in ways he couldn't understand. But he knew that he needed to let the emotions out somehow, and he was fairly certain he'd found the right person to direct them at. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that his father probably had something to do with the attack on Hogsmeade. Even if he hadn't physically been there, he'd done something. He'd been getting involved with bad people again, and Draco had ignored it long enough.

He knew that part of the reason he was so ready to go confront his father was because Hermione Granger had been injured in the attack on Hogsmeade. Even though that probably hadn't been the plan, it had happened, and Draco was furious. His father could have been the reason Hermione Granger had been killed. The men who'd attacked Hogsmeade easily could have killed her, and then he would have lost another woman he was in love with.

Draco paused at the front door to his old home. He couldn't believe he'd just thought that; in love, with Hermione Granger? He wasn't sure how his life had come to that point. But now, Draco didn't think being there was such a bad thing. She was perfect with Scorpius, and she was good with him. They worked together; he didn't know how, but they did. They did belong together; he knew that now. He'd fallen in love with Hermione Granger.

The fury came back then. His father had almost gotten her killed, and it was something Draco would never forgive him for that. Which is why he threw the doors open with a wave of his wand and stormed inside. Even though it was the middle of the night, Draco found his father sitting in a room with a few others. Two of the men in the room, he noticed, looked exhausted and like they were covered in soot. Just, he realized, like the scared people that had come into the hospital that night.

"Draco," his father said, looking neither pleased nor surprised. "Have you finally decided to come back to the light?"

"The _light_?" Draco asked in shock. He didn't know why anything his father did surprised him anymore though; he should have guessed that his father would think he was in the right. "You think this is the light? Murdering people? Destroying homes? _Have you gone insane?_ "

"I've never been of sounder mind," his father said coldly. "If you haven't come to join in the discussion of how to proceed, I'll ask you to leave."

Draco's eyes narrowed, and he felt heat rush to his cheeks. "Do you have any _idea_ what your...your men almost did tonight?"

"I know they accomplished the mission that was set for them, and they did a spectacular job."

"Do you know who was there?"

"Your mudblood girl?" his father asked, a spark in his eyes at the words. "It's a shame they didn't get a chance to kill her. Your aunt should have done that when that filth was here all those years ago. You should have done it all those years ago. And I could still make you do all of that-"

Draco stormed closer to his father, drawing his wand. Before his father could even really react, Draco had disarmed him and had his wand at his father's throat. "If you so much as touch a hair on her head-" he started to say through clenched teeth. The thought of his father attacking Granger made his stomach twist painfully.

It was then he realized that everyone else in the room had a wand on him. "You stupid," his father said, pushing Draco's wand away, "insolent boy. You never learned, did you? I am your father; I will always be your father. _And you will not disobey me_."

Draco tightened his grip on his wand. "I am not going down this path again," Draco said, re-positioning his wand. "I won't do it. You don't control me anymore. If you touch her, I will never forgive you. I won't rest until I get revenge. You will never see Scorpius again; you will never see me again. Is that what you want?"

"Draco?" a voice asked, a voice that made his heart drop. "Draco, please. Just leave the girl and come back to us. It's the right thing to do."

Draco looked to his left and saw his mother standing in the doorway. She looked better, not sick at least, and that thought gave him some peace of mind since he didn't think he'd see her again any time soon. "I won't," he said, his voice shifting almost immediately from angry to pleading. "Mother, you have to understand. I...I love her. I think I love her. I can't...I won't just walk away. But you could come with me; I can make a place for you."

She shook her head and Draco could swear he saw tears in her eyes. "I'll kill that mudblood before the end of the night," his father said, making Draco freeze. "I'll kill her, and you'll see how much she was ruining you. You'll come crawli-"

He stopped as Draco whirled around and hit him in the jaw. His father stumbled backwards and the others with him all either rushed to his aid or pointed their wands at Draco. He wasn't frozen anymore though, and he took of running for the front door. Once outside the house, Draco turned and disapparated, landing unsteadily at Hermione Granger's front door. He was confident that he'd gotten away from his parent's house successfully, but he felt cold inside. He'd given up his parents for Hermione, and she could decide at any time to abandon him. After all, he might have fallen hard for her, but that's no guarantee that she felt the same about him.

Still, he got inside her flat and packed a bag of things he thought she might want. It felt wrong, going through her drawers, but he couldn't stop himself from doing it. There was no way he could spend almost two weeks shut away in her small flat, so she would have to come and stay with him. She might not want to stay with him, he feared, but she would start that way without complaint.

Once the bag was packed, Draco appeared in his own house and straightened up a few things to make sure she could be comfortable wherever she went. He caught sight of a picture of Astoria and that too made his heart ache, but he watched as her picture nodded at him and smiled, as if she was telling him to go. Draco wondered what Astoria would have thought about all of this. Would she approve of his new love interest, or would she be furious that he'd found someone only a year and a half after her death? Draco couldn't be sure of any answers, but he'd just have to hope that she would be happy for him. In a similar situation, he liked to believe that he would be happy for her.

After the third stop, Draco went back to the hospital. He was exhausted, but he wanted to get Hermione Granger somewhere safe. As he walked toward where she'd last been, he heard the familiar voice of Harry Potter sounding through an open door.

"This is all my fault," he heard Harry Potter say with a thick voice. "I'm the reason you were out there. Hermione, I...This is all my fault. I should have-"

"Harry, stop," she said, her voice firm and slightly irritated. "Stop. I shouldn't have gone; I shouldn't have put myself in that kind of danger. I...I need to stick to paperwork right now. But that's not your fault; you followed protocol, and that's exactly what you should do."

"But with your history, Hermione, I shouldn't have put you in that kind of dangerous situation. What if you'd lost the baby? What would that have done to you? Nothing good."

"But I didn't," she said gently. "Harry, I didn't. I have to stay in bed, but you never know...that could be good. Some relaxing time with books. That's not too bad."

There was a heavy sigh, and then a chuckle. "Some quality time with Malfoy."

"Oh shut up," she said. "How many times have I told you not to tease me about that? I can't believe it either; me and Malfoy...but we work. I doubt he'll want to be stuck caring for me for two weeks, but extra time with him...won't hurt a thing." He smiled to himself as he heard her words. She wanted to spend some extra time with him just as much as he wanted to spend it with her. With that thought, Draco knocked on the door and walked inside, the bag he'd prepared for her hanging loosely from his fingertips. She looked up at him and smiled slightly. "Everything taken care of?" she asked, trying to sit up a bit more.

"Everything," he nodded, "I brought you a bag of things. You'll be staying at my house until you can get off bed rest."

She raised an eyebrow. "And who said I wanted to do that?"

"You did," Harry Potter said, rolling his eyes. "Two seconds ago, literally."

She glared at him, and then smiled at Draco. "Did you go to my flat?"

"You told me how to get in." he answered easily.

"Did you, by any chance, grab those pajamas that I-"

"I grabbed your favorites, yes, and your robe and all of the things you use that I don't understand."

"Did you think to grab any books?"

"Don't insult me," Draco said, a grin forming on his face. "Of course I thought to grab books. I'm taking care of you; I know enough to grab some books."

"Can we go then?" she asked. "I don't like being stuck in the hospital."

"Might I remind you you're going to spend two weeks with a healer?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're tolerable. Remember that Baker man you warned me about? He came in trying to convince me to let him head my care. I'd rather not stay here any longer than I have to."

Draco rolled his eyes; it was just like Baker to come and try to take on the care of someone famous, and Hermione was famous. There were people who thought she'd be Minister one day; Draco wouldn't be shocked if she got to the position. She climbed out of bed and it was then that Harry Potter cleared his throat. "I can bring Scorpius over in the morning, if you'd like. He's asleep right now; Ginny sent a quick message, and if we keep him a little while then you two will have time to rest."

Draco felt uneasy about the idea of leaving his son with his old enemy, but Hermione was nodding immediately. "That would be lovely, Harry. If he asks for either of us, just bring him straight over. Do you know where Draco lives? I can send an owl with the address. And he likes to eat eggs for breakfast, if you can give him any. It's a new kick; a month ago he was only cereal, but now he prefers eggs."

"Eggs for breakfast then," Harry said. "I've got it. I'll see you in the morning, Hermione." He came over and kissed her cheek before nodding politely at Draco and leaving the room.

"Shall we?" Draco asked, holding out a hand to her.

She nodded and took it without a second thought. "Hey, Draco?" she said quietly, just as they were about to leave the room. He just raised an eyebrow and looked at her, a bit concerned, but she sent him a small smile. "Thank you. For being so willing to look after me and everything. Most people don't do this with a partner of two months."

"You don't have to thank me," he said quickly. "Really, you don't. I'm happy to help you."

She laughed a bit and shook her head as they started to leave the hospital. "Who would have thought," she said as her laughter slowed, "that twelve years down the road, you and I would end up together? If we'd suggested that to someone in Hogwarts, they would have sent us straight to Madam Pomfrey."

"I would have sent myself to her," Draco said. He paused as they apparated and appeared in his living room. "Then again, you were the only person in Hogwarts that could almost keep up with me."

 _"Almost?_ " she asked, her eyebrow raising again. "Are you insane? You were struggling to keep up with me, not the other way around."

"I don't know," Draco said, taking her hand and pulling her toward his bedroom. He would have taken her to the guest room, but the bed in it was uncomfortable and she would need a nice spot. "You always could have cheated off me."

She laughed loudly and rounded on him as they got to his doorway. "Please," she said, " _You_ probably cheated off _me_. I'm sure that you-"

"Granger?" he interrupted. She trailed off, looking confused and intrigued.

"What?" she asked. "And it's Hermione, Draco, really. This last name business is ridiculous."

"I'd like to kiss you," he said, voicing a part of his desires for the first time. She looked surprised, and she nodded a bit before falling silent and just watching his face. Draco tried to get himself to move forward, but all of the sudden he felt paralyzed. "I-"

He stopped as she reached up, her thumb on his chin. It brushed once again his lips before she cupped his face and brought his lips crashing on to hers.


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

Hermione spent a night laying restlessly in Draco Malfoy's bed. He was in the living room on the sofa, just call away, but every part of her wanted to call him back to her. She had the strange desire to do more than just kiss him, especially after the one they'd shared. It had turned very quickly from a simple kiss to something more heated, something that left her panting and thinking nonstop the rest of the night. She was restless anyway, because she wasn't supposed to leave the bed other than to go to the bathroom. Draco had even decided to bring her meals in bed so she wouldn't have to risk anything.

As the rest of the night dragged on, Hermione felt herself getting tired and yet somehow more awake. She kept wanting to go downstairs to talk to Draco again, but she didn't want to go downstairs and have him upset with her. He was overprotective, she'd found that out before, and now she was really forced to deal with that aspect of his personality.

Finally, early morning turned to day, and Hermione watched the sun rise from her position in the bed. She got up to go to the bathroom, but laid back down in bed to wait for Draco. He finally appeared almost half an hour later, carrying a plate with eggs and sausage. Hermione sat up a bit, and noticed that Draco looked a bit conflicted as he brought the plate to her. She was immediately convinced that he regretted what they'd done only a few hours ago, and she felt terrible. She'd been dreaming about kissing him again, and he'd been dreading it. Maybe, she thought, the kiss hadn't made him as happy as it had made her. Maybe this signaled the end of their short-lived relationship.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice conveying her sense of dread. "If you're going to leave because of what happened last night, I...I understand, but I'll need your help getting home and-"

"Leave?" Draco asked, his eyes widening. "Why on earth would I do that? I could hardly stop myself last night, why would I leave?"

"Well you looked conflicted, so I wasn't sure."

"I am conflicted."

"What about?" she asked, her slightly fear turning into concern. "If it's about me staying here, I-"

"It's not about you," he said, sighing heavily and sitting down next to her on the bed. He set the plate on a nightstand and put his head in his hands. It messed up his hair more than usual, and Hermione wasn't sure what to do to help him out. "I found something out last night, and I...I don't really know what to do with the information I have."

"Well, what is the information?" Hermione asked.

Draco sighed heavily. "It's...About my father. You know that I don't believe everything he does now, right? You know that?" Hermione nodded, worried about where he was going with the train of thought. "But he's still my father. He's...I feel some sense of responsibility for him, and I feel like...Like I can't do anything about what I learned because he's my father, and because I can't let bad things happen to him."

"Draco," Hermione said, "what did you learn?"

He was silent for a few moments, in which Hermione wondered just how bad the news was. "My father had a part in the attack on Hogsmeade," he said, his voice soft. "He wasn't actually there, but I...He'd been talking about getting involved again, and when everyone showed up at St. Mungo's last night...I just knew. That was my first stop last night, when I left you. I went and confronted him, and some of the men were there who'd attacked the village were there, and he was talking about you and hurting you. I...I should have told Potter last night, but I didn't know how. I don't want everyone to think that I had a part in this too. I would never...Not now…"

Hermione was silent too. She didn't know how to respond to his admission, nor did she know how to assure Draco that it wasn't his fault this had happened. She knew him fairly well by now, and she knew he'd take responsibility for everything that had happened. Finally, though, she found the words to speak. "Harry's going to come and bring Scorpius soon," she said, "And we can tell him then. He's not going to blame you, and if he does then he'll get a swift talking to. Okay?"

Draco sighed heavily and nodded. "I just don't want this to ruin anything."

"It won't," Hermione said. "This isn't going to ruin anything."

Draco nodded again and said, "I made you breakfast. Eggs and sausage. It's good, I think. Scorpius likes eggs a lot right now, but you know that."

Hermione smiled slightly. "I do know that. Do you think he'll be back soon? I'd love to see him."

"I do hope he'll get here soon enough. I miss my son."

"Do you think we should tell him?" Hermione asked, a bit nervous for his answer. "I mean, it might be hard to continue hiding. He asked me last night if I loved you."

"He asked me that yesterday too," Draco said, shaking his head slightly. "He's insistent. I...Suppose the news would make him happy."

"We won't do it unless you think it's a good idea," Hermione said. "He is your son after all."

Draco nodded. They didn't discuss the possibility further; instead, Hermione ate her breakfast and then started reading a book that Draco had brought with him. He went downstairs, and Hermione lost track of time as she read.

The next thing she knew, the door was opening and a small boy was running toward her. Hermione thought, just for a minute, that it was Scorpius, but upon closer inspection she realized that it was actually Albus. "Al," she said, giving him a hug and helping him to come sit next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Daddy brought me," he said, smiling slightly. "He brought me and my new friend is downstairs with his daddy, and we're going to play together!"

"You mean Scorpius?" Hermione asked, unsurprised that the two boys had formed some kind of bond.

Albus nodded happily. "He stayed in my room last night and we played earlier this morning and then Daddy said we had to come here. He wants to come see you but I wanted to come first so I ran inside and I looked in all the rooms until I found you!"

Hermione laughed and gave him a tight hug. "I'm glad you've made a friend. Maybe we should go find them?"

He shook his head. "Daddy and the man downstairs said you couldn't get out bed. Are you sick, Aunt 'Mione?"

"I just have to rest so I can make sure your little cousin is safe," she said, touched by the three year old's concern. "Just like your Mummy has to rest every now and then to make sure your little sibling is safe."

Albus nodded. "Mummy does rest a lot. She likes to sleep."

Hermione laughed. "I do too. But I like to see you more than I like to sleep."

He grinned and hugged her again. "Aunt 'Mione, can I go find my new friend? I want to play with him in his room."

She nodded and was about to send him on his way when Harry, Draco, and Scorpius all came into the room. Scorpius took off running as soon as he saw her and hugged her as tightly as he could manage. "I missed you," he said softly, his voice muffled as he held on to her. "But I made a new friend."

"I heard about that," Hermione said with a smile. "Why don't you go show him your toys, Scorpius? I'm sure he'd love to see them."

Scorpius smiled and grabbed Albus' hand to pull him toward his bedroom and his toys. That left just her, Draco, and Harry, who looked a bit tired but was smiling. "Hey," Harry said, coming over to hug her. "How are you doing this morning? Does everything feel okay?"

She nodded. "Everything feels great, Harry. I'm being spoiled with books and breakfast in bed; everything feels amazing."

He grinned and said, "Well, I'm glad. Do you mind, both of you, if I stay here for a couple of minutes? Albus and Scorpius got along amazingly, and they don't really want to leave each other quite yet."

"It's fine," Draco said, though Hermione noticed he didn't look as comfortable as he had that morning. "Really, it is. But there is something I need to discuss with you."

"Is it about a future play date for the boys? Because I feel like they're going to need one."

"It's about the attack on Hogsmeade," Draco said, and Hermione watched as Harry's face changed from happy to nervous. Draco took a deep breath and spoke again after a long pause. "I didn't have any part in it."

"That much was obvious," Harry said. "The look on your face when everyone came into the hospital last night said so."

"My father, however, played some kind of role. I knew he had a part in it almost immediately; he'd been talking about a new group and new plans, and this...I think this is just the beginning of something really bad. I didn't tell you when I came back last night, and I should have. For that, I...I apologize."

Harry shook his head slightly. "Well, I'm glad you told me now," he said. "Even though we've had eyes on your father for years now."

"You've...you've had what?"

"Word got around a few years ago that he was acting like himself-the man I knew in school. We knew he had a lot of visitors to his house and frequently went to others, but we could never prove what he was doing. We couldn't know they were planning this, but I suspected that your father was involved somehow."

"You knew then?" Hermione asked. "And you didn't think to mention that when you woke me up last night?"

"It was mostly my own suspicions before last night," Harry said. "But I probably should have mentioned it, yes. We've already sent someone to his home this morning; there's a search being conducted, and even if we don't find anything, he'll know that we're watching for him."

Draco shook his head slightly, looking shocked. "I can't believe someone else knew about it. You could have mentioned it. I could have looked for things too."

"You're a healer, not an auror."

"I'm his son, everything he does is attached to my name."

"Can we not fight about this?" Hermione asked. "The important thing is that we know who to look out for, and we know that Draco took no part in this. Can't we just have a nice couple of minutes together?"

The two men nodded, and Hermione smiled at them. "Excellent. Now, you'll never believe what I just read…"

She spent the next twenty minutes telling them about everything she'd gotten through in the book so far. She knew that they weren't particularly interested in it, but they listened attentively and Hermione was going to take the chance to talk to someone about what she was reading. At the end of the twenty minutes though, Harry had to get Albus home so he could go into the Ministry and do a bit of work. Scorpius fell asleep not long after Albus and Harry left, because he'd had a night of interrupted sleep and he was exhausted.

For that matter, Hermione and Draco started to get tired too. But Hermione didn't let Draco leave her alone in the room again; if he did, she had no idea when he'd be back. So instead she asked him to stay, and the talked about everything for a while until she started to doze off.


	30. Chapter Thirty

It had been a week, and Draco was fairly certain he was going crazy. Not because he was in a house with Scorpius and Hermione, but because people kept coming to his house. He couldn't stand it; Draco couldn't even remember the last time he'd had so many people over in the span of one week. Sometimes Blaise came over with his daughter, or Scorpius' other grandparents, but they were nothing compared to all of the people that had come over to see Hermione Granger. To start, Harry Potter was over every day, for at least an hour at a time. He never bothered to ask if it was okay with Draco or if he should come over at a specific time that was more convenient. No, he just showed up, usually with some kind of sweet, and made his way up to see Hermione.

But it wasn't just Harry Potter. His wife had showed up with both of their kids, who had gone immediately to play with Scorpius. Hermione's mother had managed to fly out for two days to check up on her and make sure she was okay. The insufferable Ronald Weasley had come by too, though at least his visit had only been about five minutes long. Neville Longbottom and his wife had shown up to wish Hermione well, as had a parade of Weasleys that Draco couldn't keep straight. If he had to guess, it was Potter who'd told them where they could be found. None of them looked too surprised or unhappy to see Draco open the door, which had been a relief, though he had found it quite odd when Neville Longbottom had shaken his hand.

Currently, it was the Weasley's mother who was at his house. She was sitting up in his bedroom talking to Hermione and knitting something, probably clothes for the baby. Draco knew that Hermione was thrilled to have her there, so he hadn't said anything and was instead in the kitchen with Scorpius, making some putty thing that James Potter had told them about that Scorpius had been desperate to try. Draco was grateful for the quality time with his son, though he did wish that they could sit upstairs with Hermione. Scorpius would draw and Draco would fill out some paperwork for St. Mungos, and Hermione could read. It would be relaxing and peaceful, and that was all he really wanted.

"Daddy?" Scorpius asked, his hands sticky from their attempt at the putty. "Daddy, can I go see Miss Mione? I want her to read me a story."

"Not right now, Scorpius," Draco said with a small sigh. "Miss Mione is upstairs with a good friend, and we don't want to interrupt her."

"But why can't we meet her friend?" Scorpius asked.

"It's just not polite to intrude."

"Is Miss Mione's friend like the mean lady from the ice cream shop?" Scorpius asked innocently. "Her friend looks old and the mean lady was old too."

"No," Draco said quickly. "No, her friend wouldn't be like that lady. Not every person who's old is like that lady. Do you remember when we met Miss Mione's parents? They were older too and they were very nice; you liked them a lot."

Scorpius nodded slightly. "I like her mummy and daddy."

"They're very nice." Draco said again, adding a bit of coloring to their attempt with a flick of his wand.

"Daddy?"

"Hmm?" he asked, reading over the recipe again.

"I really want Miss Mione to be my mummy," Scorpius said softly. "Because Albus and James have a mummy, and...And Miss Mione's baby will have a mummy, but I don't. Why can't Miss Mione be my new mummy?"

Draco sighed heavily then. "Have you been missing her lately?" he asked gently.

Scorpius nodded, his eyes welling with tears. "I miss her," he whispered. "Do you miss her?"

"Every day," Draco answered. "But I...I think Mummy would want us to be happy, don't you?" Scorpius nodded. "She'd want me to find you a new mummy, don't you think?" His son nodded again, though now he looked confused. "Scorpius, do you know how a mummy gets to be a mummy?"

"No," Scorpius said, shaking his head. "It...Does it happen when you call someone it?"

Draco smiled slightly and shook his head as well. "Not exactly. First, I'd have to fall very much in love with someone. Do you know what love is?"

This time Scorpius nodded. "It's how you felt about Mummy and how I feel about you and Mummy and Miss Mione."

"Exactly," Draco said. "So I'd have to fall in love with someone, and they'd have to love me, and you, and we'd have to get married, and then technically she would be your mummy then. So do you see why Miss Mione can't just be your new mummy?"

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Scorpius?"

"Do you love someone when you kiss them?"

"I suppose you care about them very deeply," Draco said, frowning slightly. "Why do you ask?"

A grin broke out on his son's face, and Draco raised an eyebrow. Scorpius giggled and said, "Then you and Miss Mione love each other!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I had a bad dream last night," Scorpius said with a smile. "And I went to the sofa because you were there but you weren't so I went to your room and I saw you and Miss Mione and your faces were smushed together like this," Scorpius said, grabbing Draco's cheeks and pushing them together. Draco could feel himself turning pink. "It was kissing, wasn't it?"

"Scorpius," Draco said carefully, "I'm not sure if you-"

But Scorpius wasn't paying attention to him anymore. He was clapping his hands excitedly and he looked happily at Draco. "Miss Mione is going to be my mummy! You just have to get married!"

"Scorpius-"

"Can you get married today, Daddy? I want you to get married today!"

"Sco-"

His son took off running then, probably to go and ask Hermione when they would be getting married. Draco hurried after him, and he almost caught Scorpius at the foot of the stairs. But as he reached out to grab him, Scorpius tried to jump away and landed at the top of the stairs. He looked shocked, about as shocked as Draco felt. "Daddy?" Scorpius asked. "How'd I go up the stairs?"

"I...I'm not…" he started to say, but the realization soon hit him like a ton of bricks. "Accidental magic," he said softly, his eyes going wide as he looked up at his son. "Scorpius, you just did magic!"

Scorpius' small eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "I did magic?" he asked, unable to move.

Draco nodded and rushed up the stairs. He picked Scorpius up and spun him in a circle, which made Scorpius laugh loudly. "You did magic!"

Draco couldn't help but feel proud. There had been instances in the past where he'd thought Scorpius might have shown a bit of magical abilities, but he'd never been sure. But his son had nearly jumped up an entire flight of stairs; there was no questioning what that was. "I'm a wizard," Scorpius giggled, smiling from ear to ear. "Can I tell Miss Mione?"

"I don't think she'll mind an intrusion for this." Draco said, carrying Scorpius to his bedroom door. He knocked and opened it slowly, hoping they could pause whatever they were talking about inside the room. He heard a laugh and that made him smile; even if the people were driving him crazy, at least Hermione was happy.

"We thought we heard a laugh out there," Hermione said, smiling as Scorpius squirmed to get out of Draco's arms and run toward her. "What's happening?"

"I'm a wizard!" Scorpius said, running and jumping about the room to try and show her what he'd done earlier. It didn't work, but it made her smile all the same.

"You should have seen him," Draco said, too proud to act stiff in front of Molly Weasley. "He was trying to come get you and jumped to get out of the way of me catching him-and landed at the top of the steps!"

Hermione looked impressed, and Draco smiled. "That's fantastic!" she said.

Scorpius nodded and giggled as he kept running about the room. "And you're going to be my mummy!" he shouted, ending his bouncing to come and hug Hermione tightly.

"I'm what?" she asked, her eyes widening as she looked to Draco.

He'd gone pink again; he'd forgotten, for a moment in his excitement, why Scorpius had been running away from him in the first place. "I'll explain later," he said, hoping she'd just drop the subject. She seemed to be willing to, but she didn't really have much of a choice before the older Weasley started to speak. "I should be getting going," she said, packing away her knitting materials. "You will stop by for dinner one night once you're off bed rest, yes?" she asked.

Hermione nodded immediately. "Of course, Mrs. Weasley. I'd love to come over for dinner. And thank you for coming by; I know you didn't have to."

"Didn't have to?" she asked. "I love Ron, Hermione, but he made a mistake with you. That doesn't mean I lose my daughter-in-law, no it does not. Besides; it sounds as if you're going to end up in another pureblood family. We're all related somehow. You'll always be family." Hermione couldn't help but smile, and Draco couldn't help but blush. "You," she said, once she'd packed away all of her things and was preparing to leave the room, "you had better not be as idiotic as my son was."

Draco just nodded and with that, Molly Weasley let herself out of the house. Draco looked back to Hermione, who was hugging Scorpius still. He asked her to read him a story before long, and soon after that Scorpius had drifted off to sleep. Draco carried him to his bedroom before going back to speak with Hermione.

"Do you want to explain why Scorpius thinks I'm going to be his mummy?" she asked, not wasting any time with pointless questions. As per usual, she was going to get straight to the point with him.

"Apparently he had a bad dream last night," Draco said. "And apparently, he saw you and I kissing, and now he thinks we're going to get married and that you'll be his mother." Draco didn't bother dancing around the point with her either; she'd get to the bottom of it eventually and being honest just saved time.

Hermione let out a long, slow breath before she nodded slightly. "I just don't want this new development to make you uncomfortable," she said slowly. "I know that Astoria will always be his mother."

Draco nodded slightly. "She will be. And he'll always know that and he'll always miss her. But...It doesn't make me uncomfortable, this new arrangement. Not really, anyway."

That made her smile, which felt good. "Then let's not think too much about it," she said. "At least he likes me."

Draco grinned and came over to sit next to her. "He's incredibly attached to you. I'm not sure how you managed that."

"Maybe I'm magical or something," she said with a cocky grin that Draco found incredibly attractive. "Or definitely, since I managed to make you interested in me."

Draco rolled his eyes at her words. "Please. Are we really going to argue about who attracted who in the situation?"

"Well we already know the answer," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I was working on a bit of reading before Molly came to visit."

Draco nodded and pulled out a book of his own to read next to her. It didn't take long, though, for him to put the book down and turn to look at Hermione. Even being stuck in bed for a week, she was still amazing. She was beautiful, and he didn't know how he'd never noticed it growing up. And she was amazing with Scorpius, and he couldn't think of anyone else that was like that.

He found his hand reaching for hers. She seemed frustrated at first, because she was trying to read and he was distracting her. But after a few moments of him trying to take her hand, Hermione rested her book on the nightstand and turned to look at him. "Can I help you?" she asked, their fingers locking together. "I was at a very good place."

"I just...Was thinking that you're really amazing, with Scorpius and all, and in general." Draco said, feeling like a fool for how poorly he'd spoken.

Hermione smiled slightly; she couldn't really help it after those words. "You're amazing too, you know. I never would have expected you to be one of the best fathers that I know."

"Glad I'm still surprising." he said, grinning at her.

"You're hardly surprising," she said. "In fact, I'd say you've become almost predictable. Like now, for example. I swear you've licked your lips at least five times in the last five minutes-you'd very much like to kiss me, you're just not sure how to say it."

Draco stared at her, his cheeks going pink. He did want to kiss her, but he hadn't thought about it specifically. "How'd you-"

"Like I said, you're becoming predictable. But that's-"

He cut her off by leaning over and pressing a firm kiss to her lips. "How's that for predictable?" he asked softly, resting his forehead against hers.

"Shut up." she said, releasing his hand to bring both of hers up to cup his cheeks and kiss him again.


	31. Chapter Thirty-One

It took another week for the healers at St. Mungos to decide that Hermione was okay to get off bed rest. She was incredibly relieved when they did make the decision; as nice as it was to spend extra time with Draco and Scorpius, she had longed to get back on her feet, doing work and being independent again. More importantly, she was excited to get back home and start planning out an actual nursery. This last setback had actually given her hope; apparently the baby's heartbeat had gotten stronger and it seemed like her pregnancy might actually be successful. Which meant she would have to do something she'd been putting off for five and a half months: buy baby things.

She'd gone crazy when she was pregnant the last time; she'd bought everything under the sun that claimed it would be perfect for a baby girl. Now she wanted to be a bit more reserved with her purchases, on the off chance that anything happened in the next three and a half months. Still, shopping was a necessity. She needed a crib and toys and bottles, and basically all the tools required for having a baby. Hermione had originally planned to go alone, because she didn't really want to be around Ron and she couldn't imagine really bringing anyone else. But Draco had found out her plan and had insisted upon going shopping with her so he could help pick things out. According to him, he was going to be around when the baby was born, and he wanted to see it have nice things. Hermione had rolled her eyes at that, but she'd been grateful to actually have someone to go shopping with.

Which was why, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, they dropped Scorpius off at Blaise's house and then went to the first store on Hermione's list. It was a muggle place she'd been to when she'd been pregnant with Rose, and she knew they had an excellent return policy in the event of a miscarriage or stillbirth. Considering her odds, Hermione to buy most of the supplies from them. She'd get a few things she couldn't find there at other stores, but this was to be her main location.

"Where should we start?" Draco asked as they entered the store. He had his hands shoved deeply in his pockets, though he looked as if he was in his element. "Cribs, you think? They can be expensive, but they are important."

"Cribs work," Hermione said, pulling him to where she remembered the cribs to be. "Do you think I should get a cheaper one?" she asked. "Just in case…"

"No," he said firmly. "Because nothing is going to happen, you know that, right? So we'll get a nicer one, and we can set it up in the guest room at my house."

"We'll...what?" Hermione asked, feeling slightly confused. "Why would we set it up at your house, Draco? It's my baby, and he'll need a crib at my flat."

"I mean strictly speaking we could always buy two," he said, scratching his chin and examining a particularly expensive one, "but I was thinking you'd probably come to stay with us after he's born, and if you have the crib there already, then we don't have to set it up twice."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "And just how long am I supposed to come and stay with you after I give birth?"

She watched as he turned a light shade of pink. He didn't answer her question though, and instead pointed to the crib he'd been looking at. "I think this one is decent enough. It's not too expensive, and it's sturdy, and it had an extension that becomes a changing table."

"Draco? Do you want to explain how long I'm supposed to stay with you?"

"Then again," he said, completely ignoring her, "it comes in a richer color, so maybe we'd have darker furniture. What do you think about that?"

"Draco," Hermione said, folding her arms across her chest. "If you don't answer me, I'm going to leave you and do this by myself."

He sighed and dug into his pocket a bit, carefully pulling out a small silver key. "This is for you," he said, holding it out to her. "It goes in the lock on the front door."

Hermione stared at him, her own face starting to change colors. "Draco, you don't even use a key," she said, unable to stop herself from smiling as he dropped it into her hand. "We have spells for that."

"It's...You know, it's what the muggles do. They give keys. I wanted to give you an actual key because you love that muggle stuff even if you don't admit it all the time." he said, not quite meeting her eyes.

Hermione laughed and found herself reaching up to kiss him. "Thank you," she said softly. "Though I'm not really sure you want me to be over all the time."

"I'm pretty sure I do," he responded. "And I'm pretty sure Scorpius does too."

"Draco, you don't completely understand what I mean," she said, hoping he wouldn't revoke his offer because of her explanation. "I've got three and a half months left, hopefully, of swollen feet and complaining and-"

"You know I did live with my wife when she was pregnant," he said, which made Hermione fall silent for a moment. "I know what I'm getting into, and that knowledge hasn't changed my mind yet."

"But you know that Ron will have to come over from time to time, right? Because he's still the father and…"

"I've already thought through that," Draco said. "Having to deal with that red haired weasel for a few hours every now and then doesn't mean I don't want you to come and live with us."

"You know you won't be able to speak poorly of him in front of the baby, right?"

"Obviously. But the baby isn't here for another three and a half months, so I've got time to adjust."

Hermione smiled slightly at his words and started to nod slightly. "Alright," she said. "I'll...I'll take the key and I'll think about moving some things over. And yes, I do think that crib will work really well."

Draco nodded and lifted the heavy box into a cart. They continued to walk around the store after that, picking out a few extra things. They split up before long, and Hermione got bottles, diapers, and was looking at car seats when Draco walked back over to her, his arms full of onesies and small pants and shirts and shoes.

"What on earth…"

"Well a baby needs clothes, yeah?" he asked. "Astoria and I didn't save any of Scorpius' because we thought we'd just have the one child. But it's...it's not like we're about to stick him in a little set of wizarding robes, now are we? Because if that's the case we can go to Diagon Alley, but I doubt they'll have anything." Hermione laughed and picked up one of the onesies he'd chose for her baby. It had a frog in the corner and was a light blue. Draco quickly held up a pair of tiny overalls and said, "These go with that onesie. I thought they looked nice together."

Hermione grinned and nodded. "They do look nice together. How on earth did you know that they would?"

"Sometimes, I swear you forget I have a son."

"How could I forget about him? I like him more than I like you."

Draco laughed and they pushed their cart, now full of everything Hermione could think of needing, toward the check out. She paid and Draco gave the woman at the register an address as to where they could send everything, because they didn't have a car to pile everything into and they didn't want to carry everything. They could do it without a problem, but that would require magic and that would look suspicious. So, having it delivered was really the best option, and Draco didn't mind giving up his address for once.

They left the store hand in hand, which felt really nice because they were happy and they were together, and it felt like they were going to be together for a while. Still, as they walked, Hermione had one nagging thought in the back of her mind. She was a thirty year old woman having another man's child. Half of their dates had involved her in her pajamas, without even trying to look nice. And the more she felt herself getting attracted to Draco, the more she realized that he was devilishly handsome, bright, and had the potential to go far in life. All of that left her wondering why he would ever choose to be with someone like her.

"Draco," Hermione said after a long pause. She had one fear left that he didn't already know, and she wanted to give him ample time to think about it before she agreed to move some things into his house. "I just...You know you're handsome, right?"

He raised an eyebrow but nodded. "I'm well aware; luckily I didn't take after my father in that regard. Why do you ask?"

"It's just…" she trailed off, trying to decide what to say. She didn't want to sound too self-conscious, nor did she want to hide the point of her fear. "Draco, it's just...Look at how attractive you are," she said, gesturing at him. "And look at me, and...I just don't get why you'd want me when you could have anyone at all."

"If I didn't want to be with you, Hermione, I wouldn't be. I dated plenty of women after Astoria, and none of them compare to you," he said. "Besides, I still find you wildly attractive."

Hermione blushed and looked down. "You've never really made an advance," she said, focusing on her shoes as they continued to walk. "I kissed you first, I...I think I've initiated everything since then too."

"Is that what this is about?" he asked.

"Do want not want to have sex with me?" she asked, feeling vulnerable.

She'd stopped walking and Draco stopped too, his eyes widening as he looked at her. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. "Is that honestly what you think. I didn't know if it was safe, and I didn't know if you'd want to move that fast."

"Well I do." Hermione said, folding her arms across her chest, getting the courage to look up at him and meet his eyes.

Draco came closer to her, a thin smile on his face. "Do you want to move that fast now?"

"Right now?" she asked, her heart beating a bit faster. "I could move that fast right now." Draco grabbed her hand and before she knew it, they landed in his living room. Almost immediately, Draco pulled her close and kissed her, his hands cupping her cheeks as her own wrapped around his neck. She hadn't felt incredibly attractive as of late, but she definitely did now.

They moved up to Draco's bedroom. And after that, Hermione didn't really care to think much at all. She had no idea how long it took before they separated, each feeling pleased. For a moment they just laid flat on their backs, panting and not saying a word. "Was that okay?" Draco asked, and Hermione felt like hitting him. "I...Haven't done that since Astoria died."

Hermione nodded, though she was embarrassed and she felt awkward. "I...I'm...I don't really…"

She turned to see that Draco had gone pink. "I shouldn't have mentioned that. I'm sorry, I don't know why I did."

"It's okay," Hermione said. "I haven't done it since I left Ron. And for your information, that was very much okay. It was better than okay."

Draco smiled, a small smile that felt special. "Good. I'm glad it was better than okay; it was in my opinion too."

Hermione yawned in response; she was spent and exhausted. "I feel like I'm going to fall asleep." she muttered, rubbing her eyes slightly.

Draco yawned too and pulled her close enough so that their limbs ended up tangled together. They fell asleep that, and in her exhausted state, Hermione slept peacefully. She woke up before Draco and saw that it had been just over two hours since she'd last looked at the clock. She decided to get up and take a shower since she smelled like sweat, and when she finished with that, she walked back into Draco's room to find him yawning and stretching. "Hey," she said, leaning against the door frame. "Sleep well?"

"Amazingly," he said, climbing out of bed. "I'm going to shower though-do you want to stick around and maybe pick up Scorpius at seven tonight? We could have some sinner and then maybe bring some of your things over here. After all, I'm pretty sure we agreed that you're moving in."

"We did?" she asked, and Draco nodded. "Well alright then. But where am I going to sleep?"

"Are you serious?" Draco asked. "I swear, sometimes I don't know what goes through your head. You'll sleep with me, obviously."

She nodded and worked on drying her hair while Draco took a quick shower. They went out for dinner and brought over a couple outfits and an extra toothbrush. She wasn't prepared to fully move in with him yet, but having a couple of things at his house would enable her to spend the night if she ever wanted to, and she'd be able to do it without wondering if she was going to have underwear the next morning.


	32. Chapter Thirty-Two

Another two weeks passed, and Draco was pretty sure he was falling in love. He felt absolutely ridiculous for doing it so quickly, because it had taken him an incredibly long time to really fall in love with Astoria. That's not to say that Hermione was better than her, and he could never say that she was worse, but it was just different. Maybe he was just falling in love because he hadn't been able to for so long; maybe he was desperate for it, even though it felt silly? Draco couldn't be sure.

What he could be sure of was that he couldn't stop watching the woman sleeping next to him. They'd been reading books on his sofa when she'd started to doze, and Draco had convinced her to just spend the night instead of going back to her flat. She'd fallen asleep almost as soon as her head had hit the pillow, but Draco had decided to read for a bit longer. Then, when he'd started to yawn and feel tired himself, Draco had caught a glimpse of Hermione Granger, and he hadn't been able to look away. Maybe it was the way the moonlight from the window was hitting her face, or maybe it was that she had a small smile on her face even though she'd been asleep for over an hour.

Draco had just reached over to brush some hair out of her face when he heard the door creak open. Scorpius walked in, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Draco could tell by looking at him that he'd been crying. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, hoping to not disturb Hermione at all.

"I had a bad dream," Scorpius mumbled, looking at Draco with wide and watery eyes. "I don't like bad dreams, Daddy."

"I know," he said gently. "What was your dream about?"

"Miss Mione got hurt," he said. "And she died like Mummy did, and both my Mummy's were gone. I don't wanna lose both my Mummy's."

Tears had started falling down his cheeks again. "Come here," Draco said, holding out his arms so he could pick up his son. "Come here; you can sleep with us tonight. Miss Mione's okay, and she's not going anywhere."

Scorpius nodded and climbed under the covers between him and Hermione. Scorpius grabbed Draco's hand, but curled up as close to Hermione as he could get. Draco watched for a moment, and saw Hermione move closer to him and start rubbing his back. Apparently she hadn't been as asleep as he'd thought, but he was glad that she was taking care of Scorpius again.

Draco could tell that Scorpius was quickly falling asleep. He watched with a small smile until he noticed that Hermione had opened her eyes and was smiling at him. "If you don't go to bed, you'll be tired at work tomorrow." she whispered, closing her eyes once again.

She was right, which wasn't really a surprise because she was often right. Draco could admit it, even though he didn't often like to say that he was wrong. Still, he did finally close his eyes and drift off to sleep. That sleep didn't last long though; around three, Draco woke up to a wet feeling under his outstretched arm. For a moment he panicked, thinking that it was blood and that something had gone terribly wrong with Hermione and the pregnancy. But then the smell hit him, and he could hear Scorpius sniffling.

"What happened?" Draco asked, trying not to yawn and show that he was exhausted.

"I had an accident," Scorpius whispered. "And then Miss Mione got sick and I got sick and then Miss Mione went to the bathroom and she's still sick."

It was then that Draco heard the sound of someone throwing up. "Let's get-"

"It's all my fault," Scorpius whimpered, tears falling down his cheeks once again. "Daddy, it's all my fault."

"Hey, shh…" Draco said. He grabbed his wand and flicked it, sending the soiled sheets to the laundry room and replacing them with a new set. He took Scorpius' hand and let him to his room, got Scorpius changed, and then sent his clothes to the laundry room as well. "It's okay," he said gently. "See? We're all better. Now go climb back in my bed, and I'm going to check on Hermione."

Scorpius nodded and ran back to Draco's room while Draco went to the bathroom. He opened the door and saw Hermione kneeling beside the toilet, her face pale and her hands a bit shaky. "I'm sorry." she said, but Draco just shook his head.

"Set off by the smell?" he asked, and she nodded immediately.

"When I was pregnant with Rose, smells always got to me. Apparently it's the same this time around."

"Good to know," Draco said. "Are you feeling better? Do you think you're done?" She took a deep breath and nodded. She rinsed her mouth before they went back to lay down in bed.

"I'm sorry I made you sick." Scorpius mumbled, hugging Hermione tightly.

"It's not your fault," she said softly. "It happened with Rose too."

"Who's Rose?"

There was a long pause and then, "My daughter."

"Why don't I get to see her?" Scorpius asked innocently.

"She's...She's dead, Sweetie," Hermione whispered. "She died when she was born."

"I'm sorry," Scorpius said, horrified. "I...Does that mean you can't be my mummy?"

"That's up to your dad, Sweetie."

"Daddy?" Scorpius asked. "Can Miss Mione be my mummy?"

"Of course." Draco said without really hesitating at all.

Scorpius scooted closer to her and hugged her tightly. "I love you, Mummy."

"I love you too, Scorpius." she said softly, a yawn quickly following her words.

Before too long, they were all asleep again. The rest of the night passed without incident. Draco was relieved to get some actual sleep, as he sometimes couldn't manage to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time. Maybe Hermione and Scorpius helped him sleep; maybe they helped him more than he realized. Draco woke up to an empty bed. He wasn't quite sure why his bed was empty other than if he's dreaming, but he knew that wasn't the case. The scent of bacon drifted into the room and Draco realized that Hermione must have made breakfast for herself and Scorpius. He got up and got ready for the day, putting on robes for work and then heading downstairs. Scorpius was at the table with a plate of eggs, and Hermione had a plate with bacon and toast for herself.

"You're up," she said with a smile. "There's still some bacon left, if you want it. And there's bread for toast, and some eggs."

He grinned and made some coffee for himself before sitting down with the extra bacon. Scorpius started to tell the story of his dream, and Draco and Hermione started listening intently. Listening was all they needed to do to make Scorpius happy, though Draco soon had to leave. He knew that Hermione was going to bring Scorpius to the hospital later in the day, as she had an appointment and some lunch plans. Scorpius hardly spent time in the children's area of the hospital anymore, and Draco knew that he could manage staying there for a couple of hours while he worked and Hermione did what she needed to do.

His day was relatively simple. Draco worked with the newer healers again, which wasn't particularly exciting, but it meant that there weren't any big emergencies that he needed to tend to. When it was time for lunch, Draco spent some time eating with his son and listening to him talk about his morning with his new mummy. Scorpius was happy, and that kept Draco's spirits high for the rest f the day. Scorpius didn't seem to mind that he had to stay at the hospital all day, because he was coloring and playing with the other kids in the room. Draco was just glad that his son was having a good day too. Scorpius used to hate staying in the hospital during the day but now that he didn't have to do it all the time, he didn't mind as much.

By the time the evening rolled around, Draco was ready to go home. Hermione would be there, and maybe they could go out to dinner and and watch a movie. Draco had learned to love those, and Hermione liked them too. Scorpius was fascinated by the moving pictures, and the way sound was attached to them. It was like their photographs, but somehow more impressive. After getting his son from the daycare center, they took the Knight Bus home and walked into a dark house. "Mummy?" Scorpius yelled, eager to tell her about his day. "Mummy, are you home?"

There was silence, and Draco frowned as he flicked his wand to turn on the lights. Scorpius pouted as they looked around the first floor. Draco was hopeful that she would have left a note to say where she'd gone, but he couldn't find one. "How about you go play in your room?" Draco suggested, gently pushing his son toward the stairs. Scorpius did so begrudgingly, and Draco sat at a desk and wrote a quick note to Harry Potter.

 _'Hermione isn't home and hasn't left a note-do you have any idea where she could be? -D.M.'_

He sent the letter off, feeling absolutely ridiculous because he had to write to Harry Potter to find out where his girlfriend had gone. But he'd rather know where she was than worry all night long. Even with the letter, though, Draco didn't hear anything back until almost ten that night, long after he'd sent Scorpius to bed.

 _'Draco, I've done some digging. I checked her flat and she wasn't there. Gin said she had an appointment today, so I may have used some magic to find out how it went. They sent her to the hospital. I'm with her now, and she's said not to come. I'll keep you updated. -H.P.'_

The words cut through him. She was in the hospital-a muggle hospital more likely than not-and she didn't want him there. Draco didn't know what had happened, and his mind jumped to the sex they'd been having recently. Maybe it had made her realize that she didn't want to be with him? Maybe she'd been trying to get away from him for a while and he hadn't noticed? But if that were the case, she never would have let Scorpius call her mummy. She might not have feelings for him anymore, but she would never do something that could hurt Scorpius.

Draco didn't sleep that night. He tried, and he was able to fall asleep for about twenty minutes at a time before he'd wake up in a cold sweat. Every time he'd worry that she was dead, or that she wanted to leave him. Around two in the morning he got another note from Harry Potter. Apparently Hermione had been released from the hospital and was going to spend the rest of the night with the Potters. Draco couldn't stop himself from climbing out of bed, carefully going to scoop up Scorpius and apparating. He knew where the Potters lived, and he needed to make sure that Hermione was going to be alright.

They arrived on the Potter's porch just as the front door was closing. Draco hurried forward and knocked softly on the front door. His old nemesis pulled it open and smiled slightly. "I was hoping you'd come. She's in the kitchen with a cup of tea. You can give Scorpius to me, and I'll get him settled in Albus' room."

Draco surprised himself by easily handing Scorpius over and letting Harry Potter point him to the kitchen. He saw her slumped at the table, a mug between her hands. She looked tense, at least from behind, and Draco wasn't entirely sure what he could say to her that wouldn't upset her. After all, she hadn't really wanted him around. "I was worried," he said eventually. "You weren't home."

Her shoulders stiffened. "Didn't I tell Harry that I didn't want you here?"

"You did," Draco admitted, "but I don't frequently listen to him, so…"

"You need to leave."

"Have I done something wrong?"

"No, not you, it's...it's going to happen again, and I'm going to let Ron down, and I'm going to let you down, and...I knew I didn't want this. I knew what would happen, and I didn't...I let myself believe that everything would be okay. And now I'm over six months in, and they're struggling to find a heartbeat, and then it was weak, and I have to be on bed rest for the next three months, almost, and there's no guarantee that my baby will even be born alive, and I just...I can't handle this. I...I knew what was going to happen, and I didn't do a damn thing about it."

"Herm-"

"And you,' she said, her tone accusing, "I'm going to hurt you too, because you've been excited. You want a baby around too, I can tell. You picked out clothes and a good crib, and you...I'm going to hurt you because my stupid body can't handle being pregnant!"

She was shouting now, and Draco could tell that she was about to start crying. "Stop," he said firmly, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Stop. Stressing yourself out isn't going to help anything. Did they find a heartbeat?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Do they think bedrest will help?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then it's going to be fine. I'll take care of you, and-"

"You can't take off almost three months," Hermione said softly. "I can't ask anyone to take time off work to come look after me while I'm stuck between bed and the bathroom."

"Do you know how long they let me take off when Astoria was sick, and then when she died?" Draco asked. Hermione shook her head slightly, and Draco continued. "I didn't work for five months. She was sick for three of them, and it took another two months to get Scorpius to a place where he could go to the daycare center and be okay. Besides," he added, "you're a hero. Technically they could still be paying me as long as I'm taking care of you."

He didn't let her say another word. Instead, he pointed toward the stairs and told her that they were going to go to bed, and that they'd talk more about it in the morning. He didn't know how they were going to make everything work, but Draco was determined to find a way.


	33. Chapter Thirty-Three

Hermione could feel Draco lying beside her in bed. He was breathing lightly and his arm was thrown around her waist as she laid on her side. It had been a comfort at first, and now it just felt like dead weight. It was just something that made her feel uncomfortable and hot, and she just wanted to be done with it. She wanted to be done with everything. Because Hermione knew what was going to happen. She had felt the realization sink into her bones when she'd been sent to the hospital to get checked out and to make sure that her baby was still even alive. It wouldn't be for long. She was going to lose this one just like she'd lost Rose, and she couldn't bear the thought of it.

She wiped her eye as tears started to fall again. They'd been coming off and on all night, and Hermione didn't want to wake Draco up because of them. She was already going to hurt him, and she was going to hurt Scorpius who was excited about having a new friend. She was going to hurt Harry and Ginny, and all of the Weasleys, who were excited about having a new nephew or grandson. And more than anything, she was going to hurt Ron, who was so excited about having a son that he could barely contain himself on the few occasions she'd seen him recently. All of them were going to be hurt because she couldn't handle being pregnant-her body couldn't manage it. And that thought was absolutely devastating.

It was nearing four in the morning when Hermione decided that she couldn't handle being next to Draco any more that night. She carefully moved his arm and slid out of bed. She was going to lose the baby anyway, so what did it matter if she stood up and walked downstairs? It wouldn't make a difference at all. But there was someone she hadn't told yet, two people in fact who would need to know and would make her feel better. So she went to the phone and sat down on the sofa before dialing the number of her parents' office in Australia.

A familiar, "Hello, Dr. Granger speaking," answered the phone. Hermione was silent for a moment, trying to figure out what she could possibly say to her mother. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Mum?" Hermione said softly, wrapping an arm around her stomach as she tried not to feel.

"Hermione? Dear, why are you calling? Isn't it only four or five there? You should be sleeping."

"Mum, something's wrong," Hermione mumbled, her voice thick. "I...They're having trouble finding the heartbeat now and it's weak, and I...I think I'm going to…" There was silence. Hermione's mother had breathed sharply, but she had yet to say a word. "I'm sorry, I just...Thought you ought to know, and I'm…"

"Hermione," her mother said carefully, "where are you? This isn't your phone number. Are you in the hospital?"

"No, I...I was there earlier. I'm supposed to be on bed rest until the end but I...Mum, I know what's going to happen. He's not going to make it. He's going to...he's going to die, before he even gets a chance to live. Just like Rose."

"Hermione, where are you?" she asked again. "Are you alone?"

"I...I'm at Harry's. Draco's upstairs, and I...Mum, he's going to be crushed. And _Ron_ …"

"Your father and I are coming," her mother said quickly. "We're going to get on the next flight. We'll have another dentist cover for us-they'll understand. Honey, just stay where you are and stay with people-and stay in bed. We're coming."

"You don't have to," Hermione said. "It's not going to make a difference. I...Mum, I think I just wasn't meant to be a mother. I think...I think I need to leave Draco, and I don't want to fail at being an aunt so I should avoid Harry and Ginny and the kids, and-"

"Leave?" another voice asked from the doorway to the room. "You want to leave?"

Hermione looked up, her heart racing as she saw Draco standing before her. His hair was disheveled and his expression was a cross between fury and fear. Her mother was still on the phone and Hermione heard her say, "What's going on? Hermione?"

"Don't come, Mum. I...I'm fine. Just don't come." She hung up before her mother could really argue with her, because she knew that a bigger fight was coming and she didn't think she could handle two in one night.

Draco stared at her hardly. "So you want to leave then?" he asked, his voice tinged with anger. "You want to just what, cut off contact? After letting Scorpius call you ' _mummy_ ' you're just going to go and break his heart? And _mine_?"

"Draco," Hermione said carefully, trying to stay calm. "I...I just don't...I can't even take care of a child growing inside me, and I don't know how I ever thought I'd be able to take care of one that I...That's already here. I...It's not just you, I should avoid everyone else too, and I...I'm…"

"Oh that's just perfect, isn't it?" he spit angrily. " _Saint Granger,_ protecting everyone around her by leaving them alone. Are you _insane_? You think that's going to work with _any_ of the people you care about? You think Potter's just going to let you walk away? You think _I'm_ going to?"

"I don't want to hurt you," Hermione said, "that's all this is about. I don't want to hurt you or Scorpius when, three months down the line, I give birth to a baby that's not breathing!"

"And you think leaving _now_ is going to hurt less?" He was shouting now, and Hermione cringed at the sound of his voice. "You think-I can't believe how _stupid_ I was to let you talk to my child. I can't believe how stupid I was to let you into my life, into our home. Everything was working fine with me and Scorpius, just the two of us, and then _you_ came in and now you're going to ruin everything!"

"Draco-"

" _No_ ,"' he said sharply. "Don't. I'm going to take my son home. And in the morning, I'm going to have to explain to him why he's lost a second mother."

His shouting, however, had brought Harry running downstairs. He looked exhausted and his glasses were crooked on his nose. "When the _hell_ is going on down here?" he whispered furiously. "We've got three sleeping kids upstairs, and my very pregnant wife who might just commit murder if she doesn't get enough sleep tonight. Whatever's going on can wait until morning."

But Draco shook his head. "I'm getting my son and I'm leaving. I'll send your things back to your flat, _Granger_ , and then I want you out of our lives."

"Draco stop," Hermione pleaded. "Please stop, I was just...I just don't want to hurt you, I don't want to hurt you or Scorpius or anyone, and I'm just...I'm just…"

She trailed off, her face turning red as she struggled to stop herself from crying. She'd stood to try and stop him, but as she trailed off, she fell back to the sofa with tears pouring down her cheeks. Hermione put her head in her hands so she wouldn't have to look at either of the men in front of her, and she cried. She cried for her new baby that she was going to lose, for the one she'd lost three and a half years ago, and for the relationship she'd wrecked in twenty minutes. Everything was going wrong, and she couldn't fix it.

"You're leaving her?" she heard Harry ask softly.

"She said she'd have to leave me," Draco replied. His tone was softer now, and Hermione knew he wasn't pleased to see her falling apart. "I heard her say it."

"She doesn't mean it," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Why on earth would you think she'd mean that? All night at the hospital she was talking about you and what you were going to say when you found out, and how she was worried about you getting hurt. She mentioned the rest of us and Ron, but everything was about you and Scorpius."

"But she's said-"

"Do _you_ mean everything you say?" Harry argued.

"No, of course not," Draco muttered. "But I fail to see how-"

"She's-"

They were all suddenly distracted by a heavy thud from upstairs. Hermione wiped her eyes to try and clear her tears when she saw Ginny standing at the top of the stairs, arms folded across her chest and a murderous expression on her face. "Could either of you," she said, looking between Harry and Draco, "explain to me why there's shouting and a sobbing Hermione Granger on my sofa at this ungodly hour?"

"Hermione and Draco had a bit of a misunderstanding, that's all," Harry said quickly. "You can go back to bed, Gin, I've got this covered."

"Obviously," she said, rolling her eyes. "That's why I'm awake, yeah? Because you've got it covered?" Harry blushed, and Draco looked slightly proud. "Hermione, what's going on?"

"I...I mentioned having to leave Draco," she admitted, looking down at her stomach and feeling nothing but dread. "And he heard, and we argued, and I don't know what's going to happen with us."

"Do you _want_ to leave Draco, or is this one of those hero complex moments that you and Harry have?"

"Hey, I don't-" Ginny glared at Harry as he interrupted, which caused him to immediately shut his mouth.

"Of course I don't want to leave him," Hermione muttered. "I love him. But I don't want to hurt-"

"So it is the hero thing. Malfoy, do you want Hermione to leave you?" Ginny asked, turning to face him.

"No." he said, staring at Ginny instead of looking back at Hermione.

"And do you want to leave her?"

"No."

"Wonderful," Ginny said. "Hermione, stop thinking that you're going to hurt all of us if something goes wrong. We're more worried about you than anything else. Now go back upstairs, get into bed where you're supposed to be, apologize to each other, and let me get some sleep, please."

She pointed up the stairs and didn't budge until everyone walked up the steps with their heads down. Hermione went to the guest room, trying to avoid looking at Draco at all. "Are we going to talk about this or not?" Draco asked as they sat back down on the bed.

"I'm sorry." she said, because she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Apology accepted. Are we going to talk about why you're suddenly acting defeated? I've known you since we were eleven. I knew you for the few minutes when you thought your best friend was dead. You never give up; you never get defeated. I know this is hard-"

"You don't though," Hermione said. "You don't know anything about this. You have a happy and healthy son. You've never lost one child, let alone two."

"You haven't lost the second one yet."

"But I'm going to. I can tell and-"

"What you're doing is putting yourself in a self-fulfilled prophecy. You think you're going to lose the baby, so you're not following the doctor's instructions exactly, and you're distancing yourself from the people who can help you. If it happens, then you can tell yourself that you knew all along."

"Draco-"

"But there's still life in you, isn't there?" he asked gently. "Right now, there's still a child inside you. A child that's fighting to survive. Last time you had bed rest, the heartbeat got stronger. It's going to suck, frankly, being in a bed for three months, but his heartbeat is just going to get better again. What matters right now, Hermione, is not protecting others from you. It's protecting you from yourself."

"I...I would never-"

"I don't mean that you're going to do something. But if you stop hoping, then you're right. This is doomed."

"Is this really coming from you?" she asked, unsure of what else to say. "Because this doesn't sound like you."

"It's not, really," Draco said. "It's what Astoria would tell me when I was breaking down because she was dying. I may not have lost a child, but I've had my heart ripped out of my chest too. I know how this feels. And I'm not going to let you feel this way again. I'm a healer, and I can figure something out. I'm one of the best healers at St. Mungos now, and you've got my full attention." Hermione nodded slightly, and was surprised when Draco leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you," he whispered. "I'm going to make sure you and that little boy are okay."


	34. Chapter Thirty-Four

Officially, Draco was working. But currently his job involved staying at home and taking care of Hermione. Baker was furious about it, and tried to claim that he wasn't going to be doing any work. Draco had fought the accusation and won after pointing out that Hermione was going to need care no matter what, and also that he was going to take care of her whether he was working or not. He'd use all of his sick time and he'd get others to cover his shifts so that he could stay home and take care of Hermione. At least this way he wouldn't have to worry about money. He knew it was only happening because St. Mungos didn't want to lose him completely, but Draco was grateful for the leniency nonetheless.

Hermione, he knew, was having trouble. As much as he tried to convince her that she and the baby would be okay, she didn't seem to believe him. She stayed in bed like she was supposed to, but that was all she wanted to do. She ate when Draco bought her food and listened with feigned interest when Scorpius told her stories. She refused, however, to read anything or watch a movie. She even protested having visitors, which didn't go over very well when any of the Weasleys or Potters dropped by. Harry Potter just about lost his head when he found that out, and he tried quickly to call up to her. But as he was standing at the front door, Hermione couldn't hear him. Draco could do nothing but apologize and shut the door. He wanted to let Potter in so he could snap Hermione out of whatever funk she'd gone into, and he could have his girlfriend back again.

It took a month before she was willing to let anyone but her parents come see her, and that was only because Draco had begged her to. It wasn't that he disliked spending every second of every day with her. It wasn't that he wanted a break. It was that Hermione needed her friends and she was already having trouble. Her friends and family would help, without a doubt, and Draco missed seeing her smile. He missed the way she interacted with Scorpius when she was happy. He missed the girl he'd fallen for, and he wanted her back.

The first person she agreed to see other than her parents was Ronald Weasley. He seemed somber and quiet, which was weird to Draco. He hated that Hermione wanted to see him, because Draco didn't want Ron Weasley anywhere in house. But Ron Weasley was the father of her baby, and even Draco could admit that he had a right to see her. Draco stayed out of the room, and Ron Weasley stayed in there for over two hours. There was no yelling, which probably meant they weren't arguing. There didn't seem to be any tears either, but Draco couldn't be sure because he was sitting at the kitchen table coloring with his son. His son had been quieter and more reserved since Hermione had come back, as he could tell that something was wrong with Hermione and it was changing him.

Draco was worried and he was trying to understand why Scorpius was acting so oddly. He missed his happy, bubbly son. He missed his happy, wickedly smart girlfriend. And he wanted nothing more than to just fix them both in a split second so that everything would be okay. Draco missed the family he'd made for himself.

After Ron Weasley, she let Harry Potter come and visit her again. It took a week, but Draco eventually heard her laugh. He was relieved that she was laughing again, but a large part of him was also hurt that she was still shutting him out. She couldn't even seem to smile around him, at least not anymore, and it made his chest ache. She could laugh just fine with Harry Potter, but she couldn't even smile at her boyfriend. His fear that she didn't want to be with him anymore hit again. Realistically, she probably just found more comfort in her oldest friends. But that didn't really make Draco feel any better. He loved her, and he wanted to make her feel good, and he couldn't exactly do that when half the time she wouldn't even look him in the eye. There were so many things that he wanted to say to her, but he couldn't find the courage to speak up and just say that he missed her and wanted her back.

"Daddy?" his son's small voice interrupted his thoughts. He was in the process of cutting up chicken for Scorpius's dinner, and he hadn't even realized that Scorpius was in the kitchen with him. Hermione was upstairs with Harry Potter again, and Draco was trying to ignore that fact as best as he could.

"What's up, Scorpius?" Draco asked.

"Do you think Miss Mione still wants to be my mummy?"

"Of course I do," Draco said, forgetting the cooked chicken and leaning over to pick his son up. Scorpius rested his head on Draco's shoulder, and Draco just held him tightly. "She adores you, Scorpius, and don't you ever doubt that. She's just...having a hard time right now; things aren't going right with her baby, and she's scared. But maybe if you made her a drawing after dinner, she'd feel a little better."

Scorpius nodded excitedly, pleased to have a way to make Hermione feel better. "I'll make her a card, Daddy. It'll be the bestest card-drawing in the whole wide world!"

Draco chucked and set Scorpius back on the ground so he could finish making his son's dinner. He'd just finished dishing it up when Potter came down the steps, a small smile on his face. "Thanks again for letting me come see her. I should get back to Ginny and the boys, but she did tell me to ask you to go speak to her."

Draco felt a small lump form in his throat. "Thank you." he said, nodding as the other man turned on the spot and disappeared. "Scorpius, do you mind staying at the table by yourself for a few minutes? I've got to go talk to Mummy for a minute."

His son just nodded slightly and Draco hurried up the stairs to talk to Hermione. "That didn't take very long," she said as he appeared in the doorway to their bedroom. It seemed like she was in a better mood than she'd been in for the last month, and that caught Draco off guard. She'd been solemn that morning, and she hadn't wanted to say a word to him then. "Draco?"

"I wasn't sure if something was wrong or not. You haven't wanted to speak with me in weeks." he said. His tone was slightly harsher than he'd intended it to be, but Draco couldn't change that now.

She frowned and looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "Draco, Harry mentioned that you've looked down every time you've been here. I...I haven't noticed it at all. I've been so focused on myself and the baby…"

"What are you getting at?" Draco asked. He cursed himself then, because he sounded like a jerk and he just wanted to get her back. "I shouldn't be so forceful." he muttered, embarrassed by his behavior.

"No, you should," Hermione said. "I've been the worst girlfriend the last month."

"You've had a lot on your mind." Draco said.

"I shouldn't have been neglecting you."

"I don't feel that neglected."

"I did this with Ron, and he ended up sleeping with a coworker. There are some beautiful women at St. Mungos, and…"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You don't think I'm going to cheat, do you? I love you; you know that. I say it every night before we go to sleep."

"Ron said it all the time too."

"I don't believe in being unfaithful," Draco said firmly. "I want you to know that. I'm not going to wake up one morning and just decide that I don't want to be with you anymore. And I'm not going to wake up one morning and think that I need something extra. You and Scorpius, and that little boy inside you...that's all I need."

She smiled then and Draco moved to sit next to her. "Despite that," she said, "I'm sorry I shut you out for the last month. You said I had to hope, and I lost any trace of that for a while. Talking to Harry again today...He helped me realize that there was still hope. You've said that everything is looking good, and...I do feel better than I was feeling before."

Draco smiled then too. "So we're done with this funk you've been in?"

"I'm done. I just want to be happy with you and Scorpius. I want to be happy all around. I...Will you forgive me?"

"I suppose I could," Draco said, smirking at her. Hermione just rolled her eyes and pulled him a bit closer, leaning against him as best as she could. "Scorpius was worried you didn't want to be his mum anymore. Any chance you'd like to spend the night doing something together?"

"More than anything," Hermione said. "I'd like to get out of this bed too. Do you think I could move this bed rest to the couch? Just for tonight?"

"I'd say so," Draco said. "Scorpius is going to be thrilled when he sees you come downstairs."

He slid out of the bed then and quickly moved to Hermione's side to help her get out as well. She squeezed his hand tightly and Draco kissed her cheek before they started to move toward the living room. They went to the kitchen first, to surprise Scorpius, who started crying when he saw Hermione out of bed. He scrambled out of his seat to come and hug her, and Draco was pleased when he saw her rub his back and promise that she was going to try and be the best mother to him that she could possibly be. Draco got plates of food for himself and Hermione before moving his small family to the living room. Scorpius cuddled into Hermione's side once she got settled on the couch with her feet up, and Draco handed her a plate of food that she set casually on her stomach.

He put a movie into the disc player, one of the animated ones that Scorpius liked so much. Draco wasn't particularly fond of it, but he loved watching Scorpius's face light up when he watched it. His son cheered and hugged him upon realizing what movie they were watching. Draco just gave him a squeeze and turned to eating his dinner.

After the first movie was over, Draco popped the second one in. Scorpius fell asleep about halfway through, and Hermione wasn't far behind him. Draco spent a few minutes just thinking about how nice this was. Hermione was a part of their family again, and they were all happy, and that was all that really mattered to him. Draco rubbed Scorpius's head for a moment before leaning over to kiss the top of his head and Hermione's cheek. Then he closed his eyes too, and let himself drift off to sleep with his family.

From that point on, Draco noticed that everything was going back to normal, or as close as normal could be when Hermione was on bed rest. He stayed home and took care of her and Scorpius, and went into the hospital every now and then when there was a big emergency. One of the Weasleys would inevitably come over and stay with her during those times, and Draco wouldn't worry quite as much that something was going horribly wrong with her. Scorpius went back to being happy and bubbly, and Hermione was laughing and smiling again too. Draco was thrilled with that, and he was even happier when Hermione had another appointment and was told that, once again, the baby was doing better than before the bed rest. She wasn't allowed to get off it yet, but everyone was glad to see some kind of improvement.


	35. Chapter Thirty-Five

Hermione groaned as she started to wake up. She'd decided to have a better attitude about things, and she'd been successful so far, but she was sick of staring at the inside of Draco's house. He'd enchanted the walls so that they'd show the scene in central London each day, and that was better than the beige paint, but it couldn't really fool her. She knew that she'd been in the same house for nearly the last two months, and she'd been in bed and unhappy for the first month of it. The last three weeks had been better, especially because her family came around every now and then, and she was able to see new faces. That was nice, and it was nice getting to cuddle with Scorpius and draw pictures with him. They'd pretty much covered a whole wall with pictures, and they made Hermione happy to look at even if she was still stuck in bed.

As nice as it was to spend a bunch of time with Draco and Scorpius, Hermione also enjoyed getting through the stacks of books that Draco had started to bring to her. Hermione suspected that he liked seeing her smile, and a new stack of books always caused that. She might be stuck in Draco Malfoy's house, but her mind was able to travel to different worlds and new magical findings, which she wanted to know about as soon as she read the title. Hermione was using her time in bed as an opportunity to practice new and old magic, because that was more interesting than staring at a wall. Brushing up on some old skills, while good for her abilities in general, also made Scorpius really happy. He loved watching her produce sparks and little birds, and he always giggled and asked her to make more.

She could tell that Draco was happy, and that made her happy too. She loved seeing him happy again, especially when she'd caused him nothing but pain and frustration for a month. Really, Hermione wanted to do something now to make him feel much happier than normal, but they weren't doing any of that any time soon, because at this point in time it was dangerous. She'd find some other way to make him smile, which was why she'd asked Ginny to come over and chat with her for a bit. Ginny was a couple of weeks farther along than her, but in a much healthier state, and she could handle coming over to the house. She was bringing the boys with her so they could play with Scorpius, which made Scorpius really happy. He was excited to play with friends, and that's what Albus and James would do for him.

It took a while longer, but her friend eventually came into the room. "Merlin," Ginny said, rubbing her back before sitting down next to Hermione on the bed. "The boys are downstairs. Your handsome boyfriend is downstairs looking after them. He looked a bit overwhelmed, but I think he'll be fine."

"Three boys is a bit more than one," Hermione said. "And your boys are a bit more rambunctious than Scorpius."

Ginny laughed and leaned back against one of Draco's pillows. "You can say that again," she said, unable to stop herself from grinning. "So, why exactly have I been summoned here today? I mean, it's nice to see you and see that you're doing well, but when you wrote you sounded like you had something to say."

"Well you have a very successful marriage," Hermione said, even though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And I've been a pain to Draco in the last two months, I think, and I need to find some way to make it up to him. You know as well as I do that I'm not good at this, and…" She trailed off, just hoping that Ginny would take over and tell her exactly what to do. It wasn't very often that Hermione asked for help like that, and it wasn't very often that she would admit needing so much help. But in this case she really did; she really did need to know what to do, and Ginny could easily tell her that.

"I'm sorry, are you asking me for advice?" Ginny asked, sounding shocked. "You, Hermione, the brightest person anyone's ever heard of, you're asking me for advice?"

Hermione blushed and nodded slightly. "I...I just...I don't want Draco to get bored of me like your brother did, and I don't have an idea of how to make that happen."

"First of all, he's not going to get bored of you. Ron was an idiot, and now that Vanessa is as clingy as Lavender was, I think he's starting to realize that. But if you'd really like my advice…"

"I do." Hermione said quickly.

Ginny hesitated for a moment and tapped her chin before speaking again. "Have you considered just talking to him? And telling him what you're afraid of? Because I could always tell you to have sex or do sexual things to him, but I don't think that's really what you want your relationship based on."

"It's not," Hermione admitted with a sigh. "Although when we did have sex...Merlin, Ginny, it was amazing."

Her friend just laughed. "You've really hit it lucky," she said. "You get someone who's kind, attentive, and great at sex."

Hermione laughed too before quickly sobering up. "You really think the best solution is to just talk to him?"

Ginny nodded. "Communication is key, or at least that's what Mum's always said. If you're not talking to each other to say what you want out of a relationship or what you need from your partner, then there's going to be resentment and that doesn't lead to anything good. So talk to him, and do some activities together-have you got a nursery set up yet? You could plan that out, or you could, I don't know, do puzzles or play games or something."

"We have everything that a baby could need," Hermione said, smiling fondly at the memory of Draco picking out clothes. "You should have seen Draco in the store. He was getting everything and making sure it was the best quality too; it felt...it felt like he was shopping for his own child."

"If things go to plan, he could be," Ginny said, winking at her. "Seriously though; where do you think you two are going?"

"I've only been separated from Ron for a couple of months," Hermione muttered, embarrassed by the fact that she really didn't know where she and Draco were going to end up. "Do you really think I should be thinking about all of that stuff right now?"

"Hermione, his son is calling you 'Mummy'. Draco allowed that, didn't he? It's clear that he knows, at least subconsciously, where he wants the two of you to end up. So what are you thinking?"

"What, you think he wants to marry me?"

"I'm confident that he does," Ginny said. "Why wouldn't he? You're the future Minister of Magic, by the way Harry talks. You're the smartest person I've ever met, and you're funny and kind and beautiful-everything any sane man could ever want. And while Malfoy wasn't that way when we were kids, I'd say he's sane now.

Hermione stayed quiet. She couldn't believe that Draco would want to marry her one day, or that he already wanted that and just hadn't said it. After being at each other's throats throughout their childhood, he was the last person Hermione thought she'd fall for. But she had fallen for him, quickly too, and she honestly couldn't picture herself with anyone else anymore. And she wanted to be Scorpius's mother, she really did. She wouldn't replace Astoria, but she could have a positive aspect.

"He stays with people for life too," Ginny said. "He probably would have been with Astoria his whole life if she hadn't died. He's faithful, Hermione, and he loves you."

"But were we even supposed to be together?" she asked. "I mean, his wife died and my husband cheated on me, and that's what led us to each other. But if none of that had happened…"

"Everything happens for a reason though," Ginny argued. "Isn't that what the muggles say? If that's true, then I'm guessing you were supposed to be together. You do want to be with him, right?"

"I do," Hermione said softly. "Merlin, I really do."

"See? Just talk to him when you're worried or stressed, and it'll help with everything. I doubt he'll have too much trouble with that." Ginny said.

"Thank you," Hermione said, nodding to herself as she thought about what she could say to Draco that night. "Really, I appreciate this."

"And I'd appreciate hearing about that amazing sex you had so I can give Harry a few pointers. I love him, but sometimes he's clueless."

They both laughed, which felt nice, and Hermione started to tell the cleanest version of her love life with Draco that she possibly could. It felt awkward to talk about, but it was nice to think back to it and know that she had something to look forward to when it was safe to sleep together again.

Ginny stayed for another hour after Hermione finished her story, and they talked about various things that came to mind. Hermione was glad to hear about the outside world from something other than the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler, even though Ginny's tales were full of biases about her favorite quidditch teams or people she'd talked to recently. Eventually she had to leave though, which lead to a couple of minutes of pure laughter as Ginny tried to climb off the bed with her massive stomach. She really had gotten huge with this baby, and it made Hermione laugh. She was quite large herself so it wasn't like she was flawless at getting out of bed, but it was nice to laugh with someone about a shared problem.

Hermione ended up getting out of bed too, so that she could say hello to her nephews and spend some time on the sofa in the living room instead of the bed upstairs. She was careful to hold onto the railing as she she walked down the steps, and was greeted by shouts from Albus and James. They both came to hug her, carefully as Ginny barked a warning at them.

"Aunt 'Mione!" Albus said. "Do you want to see the drawing I made with Scorpius? He's my best friend now!"

Hermione smiled as Albus led her toward the kitchen table. Draco was in the kitchen getting water for Scorpius, and looked mildly concerned when he saw her out of bed. "Are you alright?" he asked, coming to pull out a chair so she could sit down.

"I'm fine," she replied softly. "Just wanted a change of scenery, that's all. I thought I'd go to sofa for a bit."

He nodded and kissed her cheek before returning to hand the cup to his son. "This is my drawing," Albus said, sitting next to her on a chair and sliding a piece of paper toward her. "Do you like it? James says it looks silly, but Scorpius says it's cool."

"I only said it's silly because you forgot to draw glasses on Daddy!" James protested, pouting as he came over to hug Hermione. "Daddy always wears glasses, and Al drew all of us and forgot the glasses."

"I think it's very nice," Hermione said. "And sometimes your daddy isn't very good about remembering his glasses, so I think it's okay. Did you draw too, James? Can I see your picture?"

He nodded and pulled another sheet of paper over to her. "It's a dragon," he said. "See? It's got big wings and it's breathing fire. Daddy said that's what dragons do. And Uncle Charlie said that dragons protect their eggs, which is why it's breathing fire. See? It's got eggs to protect."

Hermione smiled and complemented James on his drawing too. Scorpius was quick to show his own then, one of her, Draco, and himself in front of a house. They were smiling and holding hands, and Hermione noticed that there was another stick figure in her arms. It was her unborn baby, she knew. Scorpius thought of them all as family, and it brought tears to her eyes when she saw it. "You're all very talented artists," she said. "I love all of your drawings."

Ginny and the boys stayed a while longer so they could all chat, but eventually they went back home. Scorpius, tired from having visitors that day, willingly went upstairs to take a nap. Once he was down, Draco came back and sat next to Hermione on the sofa. They didn't speak, and instead Hermione just rested her head on his shoulder and drifted off to sleep herself.


	36. Chapter Thirty-Six

Hermione was exhausted for the week after Ginny Potter came to his house. Part of that, Draco suspected, was because she was doing more again. She was downstairs more often than not now, playing games and doing puzzles with Scorpius. She wasn't standing up and moving much, but that was a good thing. The higher activity did mean that she was passed out around nine every night. Draco frequently stayed up until almost eleven, which meant he was reading books by a soft light in their bedroom and hoping that he wouldn't wake up Hermione, who usually cuddled up next to him in bed.

Though he spent his nights worrying about waking up Hermione, Draco was happy. Hermione was sleeping more, but they were talking more too. Scorpius had quiet time in his room every day, and Draco spent that time talking to the woman he loved. They talked about their future and their fears, current events in the wizarding world, and news about Hermione's parents in Australia. The conversations made them better, in Draco's opinion. The whole house just felt happier, and Draco didn't remember it feeling that way since Astoria had died.

Hermione was eight months along too, and as far as Draco could tell, the baby was doing alright. The last two months had been scary, but they'd managed to keep everyone safe. His girlfriend was incredibly happy, all things considered, because once again it seemed that she was in the clear. It seemed that she and the baby were going to be okay. The more she thought that, the more she went back to being herself. She asked for files from work so she could stay on top of things, and Harry Potter was over almost every day to talk to her about how things were going. Draco, while not in love with the idea that the other man was in his home all the time, was glad to see Hermione acting like herself again.

All of these thoughts came to him as he laid in bed one night. Hermione was sitting next to him with a book, actually awake at ten for once, and after a few minutes she set the book down and asked, "Are you awake?"

"Very much so," Draco replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I just...I think I've finally picked a name."

"Yeah?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me what you think of it?" Draco nodded and stayed quiet so she could speak. "Hugo." she said softly, sounding nervous.

"Hugo?" he asked, wanting to be sure he'd heard her properly. She just nodded. "Hugo…" he said slowly, testing out the name. "I like it. It's a good name. How'd you come up with it?"

"I'm reading Victor Hugo, and it just kept my attention. Do you think Ron will like it?"

"I don't know why he wouldn't," Draco said. "It's a good name."

Hermione smiled to herself and picked up her book again. She read for another fifteen minutes before she fell asleep. Draco carefully moved the book off her chest and set it on her nightstand. He used his wand to turn off the lights and felt Hermione move closer to him. He smiled as she did and quickly drifted off to sleep as well.

The next morning he woke with a bad feeling. Hermione was still asleep, and when he looked at the clock he knew why. It was barely past six; he had no desire to be awake, but something told him that he wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon. So he climbed out of bed as gently as he could to avoid waking Hermione and went downstairs to make coffee and read the newspaper. The front page had a massive picture of his father scowling.

Draco froze when he saw it, trying to process why his father was on the front of the Daily Prophet. It took him a moment to realize that he needed to read the headline to understand. ' _Former Death Eater Arrested for Connection to Hogsmeade Attack_ '.

To say he was surprised would be wrong. He knew that the ministry was looking into his father, as he'd told the head of the Auror Department that his father was to blame, but he hadn't heard anything about it since. He definitely hadn't spoken to his father since the attack; he hadn't wanted anything to do with a murderer again. Despite this, Draco definitely didn't feel better knowing that his father was in prison again. His father would do anything to get out, and he'd piece together that Draco had informed someone of his involvement. His father would come after him and Hermione, and they would easily get hurt.

Draco took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down. Everything was going to be okay; he had to convince himself that everything was going to be okay. His father couldn't get around whatever evidence it had taken Potter weeks to collect. And even if he did manage to convince the Wizenagamot that he wasn't guilty, there was no way that the aurors were going to let Hermione get hurt. Harry Potter was her best friend, the head of the auror department at the ministry, and the savior of the wizarding world. No one was going to let anything happen to the people he cared about as long as they could do something about it.

Once he got that thought wormed into his brain, Draco couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. His father had been taken care of, which meant that the people he was working with were most likely out of the picture. At least for now, his family was safe and he didn't have to worry as much about his mother being stuck with someone who could define evil.

"Serves you right," Draco muttered, looking at his father's scowl once more before turning over the newspaper. "Serves you right." He set about making the coffee then, pleased that he could move forward with his day and not think about his father at all. He was in prison, and that was all that really mattered.

It wasn't too much longer before Hermione came down the stairs and settled into a chair at the kitchen table. She'd taken to sitting downstairs and eating with him and Scorpius before returning to the bed or the sofa to try and take care of the baby-Hugo, he remembered. She'd finally given the baby a name, and it was Hugo.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked, summoning a glass of water with her wand.

"I did, and you?"

"Wonderfully. I got kicked in the ribs a couple of times, but I suppose that's normal."

"An unfortunate side effect," Draco said, smiling at her. "Shall I make us some breakfast? I'm starved."

"It's only half past six and you're already starved?"

"I'm used to a lot of food. What are you hungry for? Waffles? Toast and jam?"

"Eggs and toast," Hermione decided. "Are you sure you don't mind cooking for me?"

"I've been doing it for two months; why are you asking now?"

She chuckled softly and shrugged. "I wasn't exactly in the best mood for most of that time though, and I didn't care too much about what anyone else was doing."

Draco nodded and started cracking eggs into a bowl to whisk. "I'm just glad we're done with that time."

"I am too," Hermione said. "I wasn't reading or doing work at all, and it was awful."

Draco couldn't help but laugh; of course work and books were what she'd missed. He shouldn't have expected anything else. "Glad to know I rank below books and work. Remind me why I'm here?"

She rolled her eyes and pulled the Daily Prophet toward her. "Because I love you, that's why." There was silence for a moment and Draco heard paper crinkling before there was a small gasp. "Draco?" Hermione asked, her voice losing all of the playfulness it had held only a moment ago. "Have you seen the paper?"

He nodded stiffly. "When I woke up."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm relieved, actually. This means he won't come after you, which is what he threatened to do."

"You're relieved that your father's in prison?"

He sighed and turned to look at her. "I'm relieved that you're safe. I'm relieved that Scorpius is safe. I'm relieved that the bloody wizarding world is safe. And all of that's because he's been arrested. He'll stand trial and there's a chance he could manipulate the Wizenagamot into letting him out, but I don't see that happening any time soon. So yes, I'm relieved that my father's in prison."

Hermione nodded and didn't say anything else. She read the paper and Draco cooked and the room was nearly silent except for the occasional scrape and crinkling paper. Draco had just finished her eggs when he heard feet on the stairs. Scorpius appeared in the kitchen a moment later, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning, Daddy," he said, coming to hug Draco's legs and then quickly moving to Hermione. "Good morning, Mummy."

"Good morning, Sweetie," Hermione said, kissing his cheek and pulling out a chair for him at the table. "You're up early this morning."

Scorpius yawned and nodded again. "I had a bad dream about Grandpa," he said. "My first mummy's daddy got hurt and I woke up and I couldn't fall back to sleep."

Hermione rubbed his back and said, "I'm sorry, Scorpius. That's not a fun dream to have."

He just shook his head and climbed into the chair Hermione had pulled out for him. Draco hurried to make him some eggs as well, because he didn't want Scorpius to have to sit and be hungry. His son was still a huge fan of eggs, and definitely wouldn't be upset with Draco for making them. In fact, when Draco set the eggs on the table in front of him, Scorpius grinned excitedly and immediately dug in. Draco just smiled and shook his head; his son may not have had the best night, but he was having a fine morning, at least so far. He finished making something for himself to eat and then sat down at the table with his family. Hermione smiled happily when he did, and Scorpius just quietly asked if he could have more eggs. Hermione gave him a spoonful of hers, and Draco shook his head again as he started to eat.

"Daddy, what are we going to do today?" Scorpius asked after he finished eating. "I wanna do something fun."

"What's fun, in your opinion?"

"Um...maybe we could go play with puppies!" Scorpius suggested excitedly. "I love playing with puppies. I really want a puppy, Daddy."

Draco started to shake his head. "I don't know if that's the best idea right now, Scorpius." he said, not willing to get his son's hopes up. Draco had never really taken care of a pet before; they'd had owls and eagles and such over the years, but Draco had never had to do anything for them.

"Mummy, can I have a puppy?" Scorpius asked, looking at Hermione innocently.

She raised an eyebrow and looked to Draco, who looked equally as stunned. He couldn't believe that his son would just go around him, especially with a woman he hadn't even known for a year. "I think that decision's up to your Daddy, Sweetie. But maybe if you go get dressed and brush your teeth, he and I can talk about it?"

Scorpius was out of his chair before she could say another word. "You think he needs a dog?" Draco asked.

"I don't know if he needs one, but...they are friendly, don't you think?"

"But they go to the bathroom in the house and they ruin everything," Draco protested softly. "And he won't be able to take care of it because he's four, which means that I'll have to do it-"

"I would help too," Hermione said. "Not as much for the next month, but I wouldn't mind helping. I had a cat at Hogwarts and I loved having him-what's wrong with starting Scorpius off a little earlier with a different animal?"

Draco sighed heavily. "He's not going to let this go now that we've talked about it."

"No, I don't suppose he will." Hermione said.

She smiled triumphantly and Draco rolled his eyes before telling Hermione she'd need to have a friend come and visit her and Scorpius at some point in time during the day. She just continued to smile and got ahold of Harry Potter, who was over with his sons and his wife before too long. Scorpius was overjoyed to see his friends at his house again, and immediately started playing with them. Draco left the three adults in the living room with the kids and apparated to Blaise's house. He didn't have his daughter with him at the moment, as she'd gone to her mother as she was supposed to once every few weeks. She'd come back out of the blue and requested to see her, and Blaise had given her one day.

He appeared in his friend's kitchen and saw Blaise reading the newspaper and sipping coffee. "What are you doing here?" he asked as Draco sat next to him at the table. "Come to talk about your father?"

"Would you like to come with me to an animal shelter and adopt a dog?" Draco asked.

"I'm sorry, you're getting a dog?"

"Hermione and Scorpius teamed up against me, I think," Draco admitted. "I'm not sure how to say no to both of them."

Blaise laughed. "I'll get my coat."

It was more difficult than he'd expected. The muggle woman who was taking him through the process kept wanting to see identification and call his resources, and Draco had no clue what he was talking about so he just used a small charm on her to make sure that he could just get a dog without a problem. He didn't want to disappoint his family, and they'd be disappointed if he came home without a dog.

Draco wasn't really sure what he was looking for, so he let Blaise pick one that he wouldn't complain about too much. It was a large dog and Draco didn't know the breed, but it reminded him of Hagrid's dog from his time at Hogwarts. Blaise seemed to think it was handsome, and he wanted Draco to have a handsome dog.

"It's twice the size of Scorpius," Draco muttered as the woman filled out the paperwork, thinking that he'd showed her identification and that she'd called his resources and seen him a few times before making a relationship with the dog. Draco hadn't done anything too bad, just a Confundus charm, and he hoped Hermione wouldn't mind. She seemed to want a dog as well, and she'd want him to come home with one.

The dog seemed nervous and vaguely afraid of Draco, but he just kept the dog on the leash and at a distance, not entirely sure what to think of it. Before long though he was at his own front door again, and he knocked on the door hoping that Scorpius would run up and answer it. He did, with Harry Potter following close behind him, and Scorpius just stared at the dog.

"Daddy? Why do you have a puppy with you?"

"Mummy convinced me that you should have one," Draco said, smiling slightly. "So I went and got one."

Scorpius's face lit up and he immediately hugged the dog. "You're my friend!" he said excitedly, and the dog seemed scared at first but slowly licked Scorpius's cheek. His son giggled, and Draco couldn't help but smile. "Do you have a name? Can I name him, Daddy?"

"Of course you can." Draco said.

Scorpius hesitated for a second before saying, "Can I call him Bear, Daddy? He looks like a bear!"

Draco nodded and smiled as Scorpius continued to hug the dog and the dog licked his son's face and started wagging its tail. "My kids are going to be so jealous," Harry Potter muttered, smiling at Draco. "They've been asked for a dog since they were born, basically."

Draco couldn't help but smirk at that. He'd made his son happy, and he'd gotten a fairly good companion, more than likely. The dog seemed friendly-he probably should have checked if it was friendly at the shelter-and it seemed to adore Scorpius. He was smiling until he felt something wet and warm on his hand, and he looked down to see the dog licking him too. In that moment, he wondered if he'd made the right choice after all.


	37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

Hermione shifted slightly to let Bear on the sofa with her. She was reading a book, one that Draco had recommended, and the large dog kept nosing her hand and trying to get up next to her. Hermione had eventually relented and shifted so that Bear was lying between her legs. His large head was on her right thigh, and he kept sniffing her stomach and looking up at her. Bear, they'd quickly learned, was a giant sweetheart. He was scared of loud noises and often hid behind Draco's legs, but other than that he was sweet. It was actually fairly amusing, how much he'd taken to Draco. The large dog frequently laid across Draco's lap and tried to lick his face. Bear climbed into bed with them every night, despite Draco's protests, and kept trying to cuddle with him at night. Hermione just laughed every time she saw it, and Draco rolled his eyes and blamed her for everything.

"You're just a big sweetheart, aren't you," Hermione whispered, scratching Bear's ears. Scorpius was napping in his room, and Draco had run to the store while he was asleep to get groceries. They were just about out of food and Hermione had a craving for a specific cake from a grocery store across town, and Draco had promised to go there and get it for her. "It's okay, Bear," she said as she shifted and rubbed her back a bit. It was starting to ache, and she was frustrated by it. "My back just hurts a bit, Buddy. You're okay; it's not your fault."

Bear licked her hand and looked at her with wide eyes. "What?" Hermione asked, smiling at him. "What's up? Do you think you need a treat?"

His tail started to thump against the sofa and Hermione scratched his head one more time before getting up. It was harder now than it had been before, and Hermione was a bit frustrated with it. She felt helpless half the time, and nothing was really making her feel better. She waddled into the kitchen-and it really was a waddle now-and found one of the treats Harry had brought for Bear to welcome him to welcome him to the family. Bear sat obediently on the floor and looked at the treat, whining slightly. Hermione just smiled and handed it to him, and he took it happily and started munching on it.

Hermione headed to the bathroom. She's been having to go more frequently in the last week, and it was getting frustrating. She finished quickly enough, glancing at herself in the mirror to look at her stomach. Draco was right; she had dropped. As excited as she was for the baby to come, Hermione wasn't exactly ready for him. She was scared that something would go wrong, and while the baby-Hugo-was kicking and acting normally, Rose had been acting pretty normally too. She hadn't been as active as Hugo, that was true, but there was still time for things to go wrong.

She shook her head and went back to the sofa to sit down and continue reading the book. Half an hour later she noticed that her back was aching again, and she groaned before shifting to try and get comfortable again. "It would be nice," she said, poking her stomach, "if you could stop making me ache." Still, she couldn't help but smile; things were okay for now, and she didn't really want them to change.

Draco popped into the kitchen a few minutes later. "Is Scorpius still sleeping?" he called.

"As far I know," Hermione said. "I've been fairly quiet, and I haven't heard any noises from his room."

"Good. I brought you something."

"Is it my cake?" Hermione asked, carefully marking her page and getting herself off the couch again. "Please tell me that you got my cake."

"I got the cake, yeah," Draco said, coming into the living room to help her up. "But that's not what I was talking about."

Hermione frowned at him, and Draco grinned as he held a small pair of blue socks. "I bought these for Hugo. See? They've got his name on them." He pointed out the name excitedly, trying to make sure she saw the green embroidery on the blue socks. "I'm hoping he'll be in Slytherin-I thought I'd push the idea now."

She laughed and kissed him, and Draco smiled into it. He was excited, genuinely excited, and it made her worried. But she didn't want to think about the fear right now. She wanted to focus on being happy and getting back at Draco by enchanting the embroidery to turn red. She wanted to think about being happy above anything else.

"You're an idiot," she said, pulling away from him and trying to discreetly rub her back again. "I love you, but you are."

"I was the second best person in our year," he protested. "I almost beat you on a couple of exams too."

"Oh please," Hermione said. "You could never get close."

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, fourth year. I looked at your score, and I was incredibly close."

"You looked at my score?"

"I'd been trying to beat you for years; of course I looked at your score. I was confident that I'd beaten you and then somehow you'd pulled it out."

"Well of course I did," Hermione said. "I'm supposed to be the brightest witch, remember?"

"Future Minister, from what I hear," Draco said. "That's the word, anyway. Everyone thinks you'll be Minister one day."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh please," she said. "That's too political; I'd hate it."

"Either way," Draco said, "You are the brightest person I know. I'm confident that you'll go far. And hopefully I'll get to stand beside you."

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to drag you along," Hermione said with a small smile. "I love you, and I love your son more, and I don't want either of you to go."

"Don't forget the dog," Draco said, gesturing to Bear who was sitting at his feet. "You like him most of all."

"Of course I do," Hermione said, reaching down to scratch his head. "He's truly the only reason why I'm staying."

"We've only had him a week." Draco said, rolling his eyes. "Come sit down at the table and I'll get us each some cake, okay? I know you really want it."

He led her to the kitchen and Hermione took a seat at the table while Bear trailed behind Draco to try and catch crumbs from the food he was cutting up. Hermione smiled and couldn't help but think that her life was turning out perfect. She thought that she was actually kind of lucky that Ron had cheated on her all those months ago, because it led her to Draco and Scorpius, and some part of her thought that she was supposed to be with them all along. Things had just worked out, and she was honestly glad that everything had happened.

"What are you thinking about?" Draco asked, setting a plate down in front of her and taking the seat across the table. "You seem quiet."

"I'm just thinking that I'm lucky to be with you." she said softly, hoping that he won't judge her too much for being sappy.

"Funny," he said, smirking at her. "That Hermione Granger thinks she's lucky to be with me."

"Oh shut up," Hermione said. "I don't need you to make fun of me for it."

"Isn't that what you signed up for?" Draco asked. "I mean, we're together and you know that I'm not just going to stop picking on you."

Hermione just rolled her eyes and took a bite of her cake. It tasted amazing, just as she'd expected it to. "Merlin I can't thank you enough for getting this," she said. "I've been craving it for weeks, it feels like."

"I've heard you mention it once." Draco said, raising his eyebrow.

"That doesn't mean I haven't been craving it." Hermione muttered, taking another bite. She took a small piece and gave it to Bear because there wasn't any chocolate in it. He took it immediately and then licked her hand to thank her, and Hermione smiled. She'd never really loved dogs, but Bear made her heart melt.

Scorpius was up a half hour later, bouncing around and full of energy once again. He wanted to color so Hermione sat up with him to color and Draco worked on paperwork that had been sent over to him from St. Mungos. The afternoon, like most had been in the last couple of months, was quiet and relaxed. Scorpius didn't seem to mind that Hermione couldn't get up and play with him, as he just kept picking activities that they could do at the table. They played games and colored and Scorpius was happy no matter what. She was relieved that she wasn't disappointing him, because that was one of the last things she wanted to do. Scorpius was sweet and kind, and he deserved to have all of the happiness in the world.

They ate dinner, which Draco had ordered from a nearby take out place, and ended the night by playing another game together. Scorpius was particularly fun of muggle card games that Hermione taught him, and it always made him giggle to see Draco lose terribly. Draco would always tickle him and make him squeal. He was a good father, better than Hermione had ever expected him to be, and he really did love his son and he loved making him happy. But before long they had to put Scorpius to bed. Hermione read him a story and Draco helped him to brush his teeth and put on his pajamas.

Draco came back downstairs as Hermione was rubbing her back again. "Are you okay?" he asked, concern clear in his voice.

"I'm fine," Hermione said. "My back is sore, but I think I must have just been sitting wrong or sleeping wrong."

Draco nodded and said, "As long as you're sure. I want to make sure that everything's okay with you."

"I know," Hermione said, "And I love you for it."

"I love you too," Draco said, smiling and kissing her cheek. "Do you want to go upstairs? You could read and I could do some more paperwork."

"I think I love you more now." Hermione said, kissing his cheek.

They walked upstairs, Draco behind her and making sure Bear didn't trip her as she went up the stairs. Hermione changed quickly, as she wanted to get off her feet. The bed felt more comfortable than usual when she laid down, and Bear jumped onto it, laying his head on her thigh again. "Are you okay, Buddy?" she asked, rubbing his chin. "You've been clingier than normal today. You're not sick, are you?"

The dog couldn't talk back to her, but he did stare at her with wide eyes. "He's probably just taking a liking to you," Draco said, coming into the room without a shirt on. Hermione stared at his chest for a moment before flicking her eyes to his and seeing him smirk. "Which is good for me, because maybe then I can sleep in peace without a dog on my face half the night."

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Most people would be glad to have a dog in love with them. Why aren't you the same?"

"I like him, of course," Draco said, climbing into the bed next to her. "I just like sleep a little more."

Hermione laughed softly, trying to avoid waking up Scorpius. She didn't want to be too loud and have him come running into the room when he was supposed to be asleep. She grabbed the book she'd been reading earlier in the day and Draco summoned his paperwork, and they didn't speak for almost two hours. Hermione had to adjust a few times, but she always found a new comfortable position. Draco glanced at her a few times, she noticed, but he never said anything so Hermione assumed she wasn't bothering him too much.

She had to give a little gasp around eleven as a sharp pain spread through her lower body. "What's wrong?" Draco asked, setting the paperwork on his bedside table and turning to face her with nothing but concern in his eyes.

"Nothing," Hermione said, shaking her head. "I'm sure it's fine. It's probably just false labor-I had it with Rose."

"Are you sure?" he asked, still concerned. "Maybe we should take you in just to be safe."

"They'll just send us back here," Hermione said. "I'm going to be fine, Draco. It's nothing I haven't done before."

He nodded, looking unsure but picking up his paperwork again. Hermione felt a few more contractions and they definitely didn't feel nice, but they weren't consistent and she didn't bother to get her hopes up or feel afraid. She'd gone through this with Rose, so she knew that nothing was going too happen. She set her book down and moved so that she was lying down. Bear barked softly, and Hermione quickly told him to be quiet so he didn't wake up Scorpius. She wanted to go to sleep, because then the false contractions might not bother her and she might be able to rest peacefully.

Sleep worked, but only for a couple of hours. Hermione woke around one to see Draco fast asleep with Bear's head on his chest. He looked happy and content, which made her smile, but then she felt another pain like before and she didn't feel like smiling anymore. Hermione slid out of bed and went to the bathroom She felt like she had to go to the bathroom, so it made sense to go their. And, because she didn't want to wake Draco up for what wasn't really labor, she decided to head downstairs and try to get some sleep on the sofa. She made some tea as well, thinking that a warm drink would help her stay calm. Hermione was relieved when she got to spent almost twenty minutes without any pain, but then it was back for almost a full minute.

When the pain faded, Hermione decided to go upstairs and get Draco. She wasn't sure why, but all of the sudden she was confident that this was the real deal. She was confident that her baby was coming sooner rather than later, and fear gripped her heart and all she wanted was for Draco to tell her that everything was going to be okay.

"Draco," Hermione whispered, poking him as she sat down on the bed. She realized that she was crying, and that embarrassed her but she couldn't really change it now. "Draco please wake up. I think it's happening; I think I was wrong and that it's really happening."

He groaned as she woke him up, and looked at him, confused. "What's wrong?" he asked, yawning. "Are you okay?" He looked at her then and saw that she was crying. "Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice suddenly more serious than before.

"I think I need to go to the hospital," she said, her voice shaking. "I think…"

He was up and throwing a shirt on before she could say anything else. He ran to get Scorpius and while his son was still sleeping, Draco grabbed her arm and apparated. They appeared in St. Mungos and Draco walked confidently up to the welcome desk. "Hermione Granger might be in labor." was all he had to say before she was whisked away. Draco tried to follow, but was immediately told to stay behind as a few healers he'd helped to teach came and followed Hermione back into the hospital. Hermione wanted him to be with her, and she was assured that he could come back as soon as they figured out if she really was in labor or not. Despite knowing that fact, Hermione just wanted him with her.


	38. Chapter Thirty-Eight

Draco sat stiffly in the waiting room at St. Mungos, surrounded by red hair with a few dots of black sprinkled in as well. He felt extremely uncomfortable, and he couldn't figure out how to get out of the situation he was currently in. As soon as the other healers had taken Hermione back into the depths of the hospital, Draco had contacted the Potters and Ronald Weasley to let them know what was happening. Because even if this was false labor, they should be there for her. Ronald Weasley had apparently decided to call everyone in his family, because twenty minutes after he'd arrived, a large crowd of people Draco didn't know appeared in the hospital as well and sat around him. Draco couldn't really focus on much of anything except for Ginny Potter complaining that she'd gotten pregnant first and was going to have her baby after Hermione. Harry Potter just kept telling her that their daughter would come when she was supposed to, and not to complain about it too much. Draco couldn't blame her for wanting to be done with pregnancy. She was showing it on every surface of her body, and she looked exhausted. If he had to carry something around for nine months and get bigger and have everyday things get more difficult, he would be excited to reach the end of the nine months as well.

Draco noticed that the Weasleys were talkative and relatively happy to be up, even though it was half past one in the morning. He hated being awake, and he hated that Scorpius was sleeping uncomfortably in his lap, but he didn't want to be any farther away from Hermione than he was right now. He knew that at some point he would probably take Scorpius upstairs to the children's center so that he could be with Hermione, if she wanted him to be with her, but he still didn't want to get farther away from the woman he loved.

"How are you, Mr. Malfoy?" Molly Weasley asked eventually. She was sitting next to him, and while she looked tired, she also looked excited. "Are you ready to be a father again?"

He felt his cheeks warm, which meant they were pink. "I'm...I'm doing well, Mrs. Weasley," he said, "thank you for asking. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm lovely," she said, smiling brightly. "I have a good feeling about tonight. I just know that she's not going to lose this one; I know that everything is going to be okay."

"You think so?" Draco asked, sounding hopeful without really meaning to.

"I do," she said. "She's taken so much care-it's not that she didn't the first time, but she's been even more careful this time. The last few months were hard for her, but she's done really well."

Draco nodded in agreement. "She has. She's a good mother too; she knows exactly what to do with Scorpius without even thinking about it, really."

The older woman smiled and said, "I never would have thought it, having watched her grow up. But it's something she really wanted ever since she married Ron."

Draco's face became warmer. "She's a natural," he said. "I wouldn't have expected it either, but she is."

She patted his hand but didn't say anything else, as one of the older Weasley sons had asked her a question. Draco still felt out of place with the group, and that feeling didn't get any better when a healer, Robins, came out to say that Hermione was in labor, and that three of them could go back at a time to see her. Ronald Weasley stood up immediately, as he should, and Harry Potter stood up too. Draco hesitated. He didn't want any of the Weasleys to think he was selfish and he didn't want them to hate him. But they seemed to think his hesitation was because he had Scorpius with him, and a few people held out their arms to hold his son. Draco just stared at them, not sure what to do.

"Here," Arthur Weasley said. His hair was thinning and wasn't as red as it used to be, but he had the same friendly smile and positive demeanor. "I'll hold him-the grandkids usually sleep well when I hold him."

Draco nodded without saying a world, because he didn't know what he could possibly say. He stood up and carefully maneuvered his son into the eldest Weasley's arms, and followed the other two men back through the corridors. Draco couldn't help but feel nervous, because Hermione was going through something he couldn't help her with and he was stuck with people who made him uncomfortable.

They got to a private room to see Hermione in a bed, her eyes closed as she tried to take deep breaths. "Hey," Ron Weasley said softly. "Hermione. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," she said, not opening her eyes. "How'd you find out."

"Malfoy sent word." he said, his voice stiffening.

"He let me know too," Harry Potter said. "The whole family's out there, pretty much."

She finally opened her eyes and looked in their direction. Her eyes were red like she'd been crying, and Draco just wanted to hold her and promise that everything was going to be alright. "Hey," Draco said softly. "I thought they should know."

Her eyes started to water again, and Draco broke out of his trance and moved toward her, pushing past her oldest friends to get to the girl he used to hate. She started crying and Draco just held her. The room was awkward and Draco could feel the other men staring at him. He tried not to care, but he felt his face getting warm the longer they just stood there without saying anything.

"I'm scared," Hermione whispered. "Draco I'm so scared."

"You're going to be just fine. I can guarantee that the best healers are going to be helping you. And you've got a little boy out there who fully expects you to walk out of here in a couple of days-well, he'll fully expect that when he wakes up."

It got her to laugh, and Draco felt incredibly proud. He made her laugh when she was about as low as she could possibly be. "I thought I was ready, but I don't really think that I am," she said softly. "Merlin, I hate being scared, but I'm so scared."

"You'll be okay," Draco assured her. "You'll be okay. I think...there are probably some other people who want to come and say hello, so I should-"

"If you leave me, I'll hex you into next week." Hermione said firmly, wiping her eyes.

"Hermione, do...should I stay or something?" Ron asked, sounding clueless. "I...Maybe I could come back after everyone else?"

"That would be good, Ron," she said. "There's nothing you can do for now anyway. They said it's probably not progressing quickly."

He nodded but walked over to her after a moment. "Hermione," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I just...You're going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay."

She smiled at him and nodded, and squeezed his hand before saying, "Please don't let your family wait around all night. I don't know when this is going to happen and I don't want them to be exhausted."

"I'll let them know," he said. "I'd be shocked if they listened to me, but I'll tell them."

"Good. Thank you. And-Hugo. We're calling him Hugo."

There were a few seconds where he didn't say anything, but then he smiled. "I like it. I'll see you when the parade's come through." he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek before pulling Harry out of the room with him.

Draco turned to look at her again, and Hermione rested her head on his chest for a moment. She winced the moment after that, and Draco softly said, "Contraction?"

She nodded and focused on breathing for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, it's okay. It's okay."

"You've got this," Draco said. "You do; I've literally seen you under the Cruciatus Curse. This can't be worse."

"Oh it is," Hermione said. "It's on par and worse. Think about a head coming out of a small hole-I mean you've been in there-"

"Okay, okay I get it," Draco said, trying to avoid thinking about what Hermione was describing. It sounded painful and Draco wanted nothing more than to forget it. "I get it. Are you okay? Is there something I can do?"

"Right now you're not my healer," Hermione said. "You're my boyfriend, and I need you to stay that way."

Draco nodded and said, "Right. Boyfriend mode; you've got it."

It was a few hours more with visits from the Weasleys and the Potters. They all seemed concerned and happy at the same time. Draco could tell that Hermione was pleased to have them all visit, but even more pleased when they didn't stay for an insanely long period of time. Eventually they all went home, the Potters with Scorpius to make sure that he slept well and got breakfast and was cared for. Hermione insisted upon it, and Draco had a sneaking suspicion that she sent him away to make sure he wouldn't be disappointed if Hugo died.

She ended up getting some rest after most of the Weasleys left. Ronald Weasley stayed behind and his mother did too. They were sitting in the room with Draco and Hermione, and it felt incredibly awkward and he just wanted the situation to be over. But it was taking hours; Hermione wasn't dilating quickly like she'd expected to, and she was in pain because of the contractions and Draco couldn't do anything to make the situation better for her. She just squeezed his hand and smiled bravely at the Weasleys to assure them that she was going to be alright.

The healers came in every now and then to check on her, and some others came to say hello because Draco knew them and they wanted to see how everything was doing. Baker even came to say that he wanted Draco back to do his fair share of paperwork, which surprisingly made him laugh. He still told Baker to get out and leave them alone unless there was an emergency, and Baker rolled his eyes and said Draco would be lucky to have him on Hermione's case.

"You're odd friends," Hermione said, breathing carefully through another contraction. "Really bloody odd friends."

"Oi," Ronald Weasley said, yelping as Hermione squeezed his hand. "Bloody hell, Hermione!"

"Sorry-I'm sorry." Hermione breathed, squeezing her eyes shut.

Draco frowned at Hermione, wishing he could tell her ex-husband off for thinking about his own pain when what Hermione was experiencing was probably a thousand times worse. He couldn't do that though, because then he'd cause a problem and he'd frustrate Hermione. He loved her and he wanted to be there for her, which meant thinking about her instead of himself. He didn't seem to have to worry about telling her off though, because his mother shook her head disapprovingly. "Ronald," she sighed. "I could use a charm so you could feel what she's feeling right now. Maybe then you won't complain about a little squeeze." Hermione laughed and Draco smirked, which made Weasley frown at him.

They were quiet again for a while, except for Hermione trying to breathe. Her contractions were getting closer together, and every now and then a healer told them that she was more dilated than before. Every time they told her that, she seemed more concerned and seemed more stressed. Draco thought that she was taking more comfort in Molly Weasley than in him or Ronald, which made sense because she'd actually done this before and they were clueless.

It was hours before the three of them were kicked out of the room. Hermione claimed she was going to hurt and probably cry, and she didn't want any of them to see that. Draco tried to argue and say that he'd seen it before, but she'd just shook her head and yelled at him to get out of the room. Draco was shocked when Weasley pushed him out of the room. "She'll be fine," he said stiffly. "She's done this before. She's been tortured at the hands of your aunt before. You didn't help her then, and you won't help her now."

"Ronald," his mother said, and he cowered slightly at the sound of her voice. "You're the one who ruined your relationship with Hermione. Don't be rude to him just because he's got one that works."

Draco sat quietly, trying to stay calm. He couldn't really focus on what the Weasleys were talking about because he was worried about Hermione. He wanted to be everything okay. He wanted Hermione and Hugo to be okay.


	39. Chapter Thirty-Nine

Hermione watched as Draco, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley walked out the door. Mrs. Weasley sent her an encouraging smile before she left, and Hermione could tell that she didn't really want to go, and honestly Hermione wanted her to stay too. She knew Ron and Draco would insist on staying if she let Molly stay though, and Hermione didn't want to cause any more trouble than she had to, at least not now.

She took a deep breath through another contraction, trying to force her mind to stay calm. If she was calm then everything would be okay. If she was calm then she could have a baby and her baby wouldn't die before it was even born. "We're just about ready to have you push." a healer said. Hermione recognized her as Draco's superior, Davies, but that didn't really make her feel much better. In her opinion, Draco was the best healer that St. Mungos said and she wished he was the one looking after her now. She'd told him that he needed to be strictly her boyfriend, but she that was when he was with her and panicking slightly. Now that she was alone, she wanted him back.

"How is everything? Is he okay? Is my baby okay?" she asked, trying to breathe through the pain. "Please tell me that he's okay."

"He's doing just fine, Hermione, but he's definitely ready to come out. Are you ready? We're going to have you push for ten seconds, okay? Ten seconds and then a break, and then we'll go again."

Hermione nodded and she heard the doctors tell her to start pushing, so she did. She wanted to yell and scream because it hurt, and it wasn't going to stop hurting any time soon. She wanted to be done with the pain and the fear, and she wanted to end the day with a baby boy in her arms. So she didn't scream; she cried and groaned and tried to get through the pain with a clear head.

It took a long time. She kept pushing and the baby wasn't coming, and she tried to tell Davies that she couldn't do it anymore but Davies told her to keep breathing and pushing, and to focus on the end result. Hermione pleaded for them to let her go to sleep and to just do everything magically, but Davies smoothed her hair and promised her once again that everything would be alright.

By the end, Hermione was exhausted. She felt like she was going to pass out, and she couldn't stop asking and begging the healers to tell her if Hugo was alright. She needed him to be alright; he was her son and she already loved him more than words could express. She wanted to watch him grow up and play and color with Scorpius, and to see him off to Hogwarts and watch him be smart and amazing.

Finally, mercifully, Hermione felt him come out. When he did, she heard nothing but silence. A few seconds later the healers started whispering, and Hermione felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. "Why isn't he crying?" she asked hysterically. " _Why isn't he crying_?"

They didn't answer her. They didn't say anything to her. Hermione felt Davies at her side, telling her not to worry and that everything would be alright. Hermione didn't listen to her. Her second baby was gone, he was dead, and she couldn't bear it. She sobbed, covering her face with her hands and repeatedly asking why in her head. Why had this happened to her? Why did she have to lose two children? In what world was this fair? She'd helped Harry save the wizarding world, she'd been tortured, she'd done everything she could to help other people, and she was being punished for it.

Through her tears, Hermione heard footsteps come over to her. She wanted it to be Draco; she wanted him to hold her and promise that he still loved her even though she failed as a mother. But it wasn't Draco; it was a healer, and she had something small wrapped in a blanket cradled in her arms. "He took his time," the woman said, carefully handing the bundle to her. "He's okay. He's going to be perfectly okay."

Her tears froze. She looked down at the blankets and saw eyes staring back at her. They weren't glassy like dead eyes were; they were bright blue, just like Ron's, and they blinked. They blinked. "H-He's...He's not…"

"He's not dead," Davies said, smiling proudly. "He's just a quiet baby."

Hugo sniffled and then yawned before letting out a whimper. "Here he goes," another healer said, the one who'd handed him to Hermione. "He'll cry now."

And he did. He started crying and Hermione held him tightly, like she did to Scorpius when he was upset and crying. "You're alive," she whispered, holding him close and staring around the room with wide eyes. The ghost of tears shone across her face, and she couldn't believe that he was alive. He was breathing and he was healthy and a healer claimed that he was going to stay that way. She didn't know what to think; her baby was alive; she'd actually managed to do what almost any other woman could.

The healers had to take him away for a couple of minutes to clean him up, and they used the time to clean Hermione up too. She was sweaty and of course there was blood, but the wand helped take away what had already been spilled and a pad was going to help collect the rest. When the healers were done cleaning up Hugo they gave him back to Hermione, who held him close and whispered how much she loved him and how she was always going to protect him.

A few minutes later, the door to the room opened and Ron, Molly, and Draco spilled in. Molly was crying, but her tears were joyful and she apparated fairly quickly to go and tell Arthur and the rest of the family that the baby was okay and was called Hugo. Ron held his son, a mesmerized look on his face, and he couldn't help but kiss Hermione's cheek and tell her how pleased he was and how he'd be the best father he could. Ron didn't want to let Hugo go, which Hermione understood, and she was okay with it too because that let him bond with their son, and it also let Draco come over and set gingerly on the bed next to her. "You did it," he whispered, hugging her carefully. "You did it, Hermione. You're both alright; everything's going to be okay. I'll help you take care of him, and we'll be like a family. Scorpius is going to be so thrilled."

Hermione nodded tiredly. "I did it," she said softly, watching Ron hold Hugo as if he'd never let his son go. Hermione didn't imagine that he would let him go, at least not for very long. It dawned on her that they'd have to have a schedule, and that she wouldn't be able to see her son every day because he'd have to go spend time with Ron. For a while he'd need to live primarily with her because she'd be the one feeding him, but after that...she'd have to let him go to Ron for half of the week. They'd work something out, surely, so that they each got to see their son every day, but not having him and night and the prospect of missing out on important moments made her feel sick.

"It's going to be okay," Draco promised. "Whatever you're thinking about and panicking about right now, we'll work through it. We'll make sure everything is okay. Look at what you did, Hermione. Look at who you brought into the world. You can do anything."

She nodded again, but didn't respond to him. "Ron?" she asked, wanting to hold Hugo again and feel him in her arms. He was fast asleep now, but he'd wake up soon and he'd be hungry and she'd have to figure out how to feed him. "Ron, can I please...please, can I hold him? I just need to hold him."

Ron nodded, and quickly brought Hugo back to her. "He's got about as much hair as you do," Ron said, handing him to her but not backing away. "And my eyes; he's got my eyes. He's got the same eyes as Rose."

Hermione nodded and leaned tiredly against Draco. "He's got your eyes. And your chin, see? He's got your chin and your ears. But my nose; I think that's my nose."

Ron nodded in agreement. "It is. Hermione, I...I can't tell you enough how proud I am of you. You're so strong, and you did so well, and we...we have a son. A son who gets to grow up and have a life...I can't believe it."

Over the next few hours, various Weasleys and Potters came into the room to say hello to their newest nephew, cousin, and grandchild. Hermione just smiled through it all, even though she felt tired, cold, and a bit lightheaded. She'd done what she'd wanted to do four years ago, and it meant more to her than she could say. Harry even got her parents on the phone so she could tell them the good news, and her mother had yelled excitedly and shouted that they were getting back on a plane to come back to London. And through it all, Draco sat by her side and made sure she didn't have to sit alone. He put an extra blanket around her when he realized that her skin was cold, and Hermione thanked him, feeling even more tired than before.

She had to feed Hugo eventually, which everyone but Draco out of the room. Hugo took to her immediately, and Hermione tried not to fall asleep as he ate. Her eyes fluttered a bit and she mentioned that she was exhausted, but the healers promised it was normal. She didn't really trust any of them and looked to Draco, who nodded and kissed the top of her head. That made her feel better, at least, and she went back to watching Hugo eat, a bit mesmerized by the situation.

When he was finished everyone came back into the room. It was full of laughter and joy, and Hermione was glad she could provide that for them. As glad as she was, she couldn't help but notice that her heart was still beating rapidly in her chest, almost like it did when she felt absolute terror. Being a mother was scary, sure, but she didn't know why that would be her reaction. And she still felt cold. She wanted more blankets, and Draco provided them for her without question.

Hugo had been alive for six hours when the Weasleys and Potters left, telling her to get some rest and promising to come back later in the day. Ron stayed, and while he and Draco didn't say a word to each other, there seemed to be an unspoken agreement between them not to be awful to each other. Hermione was grateful for that. She was feeling worse and worse, and some peace and quiet helped her feel a little more at ease.

Hugo went to sleep again, and Draco took him for the first time. He cradled Hermione's son lovingly, and she knew immediately that he would be an excellent second father. Hugo would be lucky to grow up with Draco around, though she'd already known that before watching Draco hold him. Scorpius was lucky to have Draco as his father, and Hermione had known that for months. Still, watching him with Hugo felt amazing. Everything felt amazing, even if she felt sick and lightheaded.

It felt amazing until a healer came into check on her and started frowning. Hermione asked what was wrong and the healer told her not to worry, but that immediately made her feel afraid. Her heart, which was already slamming in her chest, seemed to beat even faster than before. Another healer was called into the room. This time Davies appeared, and looked concerned as well.

"Draco, Mr. Weasley, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room." she said firmly.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked, immediately sounding worried.

"Hermione, do you feel lightheaded at all? Cold? Maybe like your heart's beating too fast?" Davies asked, ignoring Draco.

"Well, yes, but I…" she trailed off and squeezed her eyes shut to try and clear them. She'd noticed black spots in them a while ago, but she assumed that was from a lack of sleep.

"Magic makes it hard to tell when patients are losing too much blood," Davies said. Hermione opened her eyes to see realization dawn on Draco's face, and he suddenly looked terrified. "And you're losing too much. We're going to have to-"

But Hermione didn't hear the rest of her words. The black spots came back, and this time they swallowed her.


	40. Chapter Forty

Healers had pushed them out of the room. Draco immediately tried to get back inside because he needed to know if Hermione was okay. He'd worked on a few mothers before that had trouble with bleeding. He told their husbands to stay calm, because it was something they could handle. But he'd lost a couple of mothers too, their bleeding being too severe and happening to quickly to get under control. Hermione could die. Hermione, the woman he was madly in love with, could die because he hadn't noticed that she wasn't recovering normally. He should have known, and instead he'd just wanted to hold her and play with Hugo.

Ron took Hugo out of his arms and Draco stared at the other man. Weasley's eyes were full of hatred, and Draco was confident that he would be hit if Weasley wasn't holding his son. "This is your fault," he spat. "You're supposed to be a healer, aren't you? And you didn't notice that she was dying?"

"I-It's hard with magic, like what Davies said." Draco muttered. He didn't want to take responsibility for this. He didn't want to take responsibility for the woman he loved dying.

"You're a bloody healer," he said firmly. "You're supposed to know these things. And now my wife is going to die!"

"She's not your wife," Draco argued. "You cheated on her and she left you. She's not your wife; she's my girlfriend, and I don't need you to tell me that I messed up!"

The other man looked like he wanted to yell again, but they were interrupted by his mother coming over to him. "What's going on?" she asked. "I couldn't bear staying away much longer, so I thought I'd check on Hermione and the baby again. Why aren't you both inside?

"Mum, take Hugo and go to the waiting room," Ronald Weasley said. "Something's gone wrong with Hermione, and I need you to just take Hugo to the waiting area."

"Ronald," she said, her voice firm. "Maybe you should go sit with Hugo in the waiting area. You don't look like you're reacting well."

"Mum-" he said, handing Hugo to her without really letting her say another word. She looked frustrated but did eventually take Hugo into the entrance area. Draco watched her leave with Hugo, and when he looked back at Ronald Weasley, he was met with a hard punch in the jaw. "You bloody Death Eater," he said furiously. "She's still my wife; she'll always be my wife. How dare you say that-"

Draco couldn't react fast enough to avoid the second hit from Ron Weasley. He tried to stumble back and ended up just slamming into the wall. "Weasley-"

"You've killed her!" he said, his voice thick with emotion. "You bloody killed her, and what am I supposed to do? I can't raise Hugo by myself!"

Weasley came at him again, pulling back his fist. Draco ducked out of the way and the other man hit the wall hard, yelping and turning to try and hit him again. Draco reacted this time and punched Ronald Weasley in the nose. He was about to hit him again when someone shouted a spell and they were both forced against a wall. "What the hell is going on here?" a familiar voice shouted. Draco looked to his left and saw Harry Potter storming over to them. "I go home for two bloody hours and Molly calls me to say that you two idiots are fighting!"

"Harry-" Weasley said, trying to pull on the fact that they were old friends, "Harry, Hermione's losing blood and she could die and...It's his fault!"

"His fault?" Potter said, sounding surprised. "How is this his fault?"

"He's a healer," Weasley argued. "He should have realized that she was losing blood; he should have protected her and now she's going to die!"

Draco saw that Harry Potter looked afraid, which was a weird feeling because he'd always known Harry Potter to be brave and unafraid of basically everything. "Ron, listen to yourself. Draco's completely in love with Hermione; do you honestly think he saw the sign and ignored it? He wasn't thinking about the things that could still go wrong, just like the rest of us weren't. All of us were thinking about how excited and happy we were for you and her. This isn't his fault. Stop blaming him for everything."

Potter finally eased up on the spell and Draco relaxed a bit. His face ached, and he suspected that Weasley's nose did as well. "I can heal that for you," he muttered, looking at Weasley's bruised face. "I'm...I'm sorry I didn't catch what was happening with Hermione."

Weasley just glared at him, so Draco dropped his eyes. He sat down next to the door and put his head in his hands. He'd lost Astoria two years ago, and now he could lose Hermione too. Nothing felt worse than this. Draco wanted to shout and yell and curse the world for making him lose two people he loved, but his mouth wouldn't form words and even if it could, they'd come out weak. This was exactly how it felt when he'd lost Astoria. This was somehow almost worse.

A week and a half later, Draco stood silently in a cemetery. His mind couldn't seem to process everything that had happened. He'd been able to think clearly up until the moment he stepped into the cemetery, and then his mind had gone blank and he'd just stood near the front of the crowd of people and tried not to break down in front of them. Once again he wanted to yell and shout and scream. This wasn't fair; he'd gotten through so much and now she was gone.

A tugging on his arm made him look down, and he saw Scorpius staring at him with clear eyes. "Daddy?" he whispered, not paying attention to the man speaking in front of them. "Daddy, can we go home? I wanna go home."

"Me too, Scorpius," Draco whispered, bending over for a moment to pick up his son. Scorpius leaned his head on Draco's chest and he rubbed his son's back, hoping to comfort him. "I want to go home too. But we have to wait until this is over, okay? We have to say goodbye."

The funeral seemed to take forever. There was so much to say, and people that had known her wanted to say a few words about how amazing she was. Draco knew he was supposed to have them all over afterwards, but he didn't think he could handle people cramming themselves into his house. A few people shook his hand afterward, and made comments about how they hadn't seen her in a while but that they knew he made her happy. Draco just nodded and tried to usher Scorpius away from the funeral as quickly as possible.

He wanted to go lay in bed and stop thinking for a few days. That would do him well. He hadn't slept decently in the last week and a half, and sleep would mean that he could clear his brain and process the death. He could act with dignity and not break down in tears, which was what he'd done when he'd first heard the news.

"Daddy?" Scorpius asked as they walked out of the cemetery, "Can we take the Knight Bus? We haven't taken it in forever."

"Of course, Scorpius," Draco said. He held out his wand arm to summon the bus and, because he knew his son loved it, let Scorpius pick a seat on the top floor. They weren't the only people from the funeral on the bus, though their stop was going to come first because they'd boarded first. "Can you tell me how many cars we pass on the way home?"

Scorpius nodded eagerly and started counting every car they flew past. He missed some and pouted, but Draco promised that a rough estimate would be just fine. It got Scorpius laughing and grinning as he looked out the window and tried to say as many numbers as he could as quickly as he could. Draco got the number as the bus pulled to a stop outside their home, and he congratulated Scorpius on counting so high and promised him ice cream for dessert that night. Scorpius cheered happily at his treat and followed Draco off the bus.

He walked in the front door and was greeted by silence. That wasn't uncommon at this time of day, at least not anymore. But Bear did come over to greet them, licking Scorpius's cheeks excitedly and even licking Draco's hand to say welcome home. Draco scratched his ears and Scorpius claimed that it was time for him to play quietly in his room, which Draco didn't refute. He walked up the stairs, stepping over clothes and toys, until he got into his bedroom and laid down as quietly as possible. He closed his eyes, thinking that he hadn't disturbed anyone, until he felt a hand on his chest.

Draco looked to his left and saw that Hermione still had her eyes closed. "How was the funeral?" she asked softly. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there. I didn't want Hugo to have to be out in the cold and he's hungry all the time…"

"It's alright," Draco said softly, moving closer to her on the bed. "My mother wouldn't have wanted a baby to be hurt on account of her. She loved them."

Hermione leaned over to kiss his cheek. She was still weak from nearly dying a week and a half ago, but she was recovering well and Draco was relieved. Losing his mother suddenly was one thing; losing his mother and Hermione would have left him a complete mess. He still didn't know how Hermione had pulled through; everything had been bleak for a few hours and he'd been convinced that he'd never get to see her smile or hear her say his name again. But then she'd woken up and she'd been weak and sick, but she'd been alive.

"Hugo's down for a nap," she said, though Draco had seen that as soon as he'd walked into the room. Hermione didn't want to be too far away from him yet, so they'd moved his crib into their room to make sure she could watch him. "He's been especially fussy today."

"I wonder why." Draco mumbled, feeling exhausted. He'd been up with Hugo half the night, trying to comfort him while insisting that Hermione rest and regain her strength. He was exhausted too.

"I think he can tell that you're upset," Hermione said. "He's sensitive to the emotions of others, and you've been so down since your mother passed…"

Draco blushed and said, "I'm sorry about that."

"It's not your fault," Hermione said. "I'd be upset in your situation too."

Draco nodded and closed his eyes, yawning. "Rest," Hermione said softly. "I'm going to go see how Scorpius is doing. I love you."

"I love you too," Draco said. She left the room and Draco started to drift off but soon heard Hugo start fussing. Draco sighed and got up to hold him. Hugo calmed almost as soon as Draco took him, and Draco sat back down on the bed, Hugo sleeping on his chest. Soon enough Draco was asleep too. That was how Hermione found them an hour later, and she smiled as she laid down beside them.

They would get married a year later. Scorpius was there to walk down the aisle and to help Hugo walk too. Draco said vows that he kept, and Hermione was pleased to have a family once again. They wouldn't have any more children. It was dangerous for her, they knew that now, and even if they wanted to, Hugo and Scorpius together were enough of a challenge. They got into all kinds of trouble that Hermione and Draco had never even conceived of. But despite the trouble and the fact that Hugo spent half his time with Ron Weasley, their little family was happy. And Draco wouldn't have it any other way.

 **The End.**

 _A/N: A quick thanks to all of you who've read this and followed the story over the past few months. I appreciate all of your feedback and your reactions, and I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it._


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